Conjunctions

  Short, individual sentences can sound uninteresting in both writing and speech. To make language more appealing and flow more smoothly, use conjunctions to combine sentences.

Coordinating conjunctions

  The most commonly used coordinating conjunctions in German are aber, oder, und, denn, and sondern (but, or, and, because, but rather). A coordinating conjunction combines two independent clauses, each of which can stand alone and make sense. When a coordinating conjunction combines two independent clauses, normal word order takes place, which means that the verb is the second element in each of the two clauses. For example:

Jochen wohnt in Bonn, aber seine	Jochen lives in Bonn, but his sister lives in
Schwester wohnt in Wien.	Vienna.

Naturally, if the combined clauses are formed as a ja or nein question, the verbs in the sentences precede the subject. Compare the preceding example with the following example.

Fahrt ihr mit dem Zug, oder fliegt ihr	Are you traveling by train, or are you flying to
nach Paris?	Paris?

  Questions are the only exception to the rule: with coordinating conjunctions, the verb is the second element in each of the combined clauses. Let’s look at some example sentences with the remaining three conjunctions. Take note that the conjunction und is the only one of the five that does not require a comma separating the two independent clauses.

Werner spielt Klavier und Tanja hört	Werner is playing the piano, and Tanja
Radio.	is listening to the radio.
Erik geht nicht ins Kino, denn er hat kein	Erik isn’t going to the movies, because
Geld.	he doesn’t have any money.
Sie wohnt nicht in Heidelberg, sondern	She doesn’t live in Heidelberg,
sie wohnt in Darmstadt.	but rather she lives in Darmstadt.

The conjunction sondern begins a clause that follows another clause with a negative. Look at the phrase in the preceding example again and notice nicht in Heidelberg, sondern. The negative word nicht is the signal that the second clause will start with sondern. Since the subjects and verbs in the two independent clauses of this example are identical, it is possible to shorten the sentence and omit the subject and verb from the second clause:

Sie wohnt nicht in Heidelberg,	She doesn’t live in Heidelberg, but rather in
sondern in Darmstadt.	Darmstadt.

Subordinating conjunctions

The list of subordinating conjunctions is long. They differ from coordinating conjunctions in that the clauses that follow a subordinating conjunction do not make complete sense when standing alone.

Let’s look at a couple of examples in English first.

When I returned home, I found the front door locked.

In this sentence, when is a subordinating conjunction. When you separate the first clause from the 

second one, you find that the first clause doesn’t make complete sense by itself: When I returned home.

Let’s look at another example

They lived with relatives since the war ended.

In this example, since is a subordinating conjunction. When the subordinating clause stands alone, it does not make complete sense: Since the war ended.

In a German clause beginning with a subordinating conjunction, the verb stands at the end of the clause.

Ich weiß, dass Tina zu Hause ist.     I know that Tina is at home.

If the sentence begins with a subordinating clause, the verb precedes the subject in the second clause.

Compare the following two sentences.

Ich besuche Tante Luise, wenn	I visit Aunt Luise, whenever I’m in Bremen.
ich in Bremen bin.	is listening to the radio.
Wenn ich in Bremen bin, besuche	Whenever I’m in Bremen, I visit Aunt Luise.
ich Tante Luise.	he doesn’t have any money.

Here is a list of commonly used subordinating conjunctions:

als ob (als wenn)	as if
als	when (used for statements in the past tense)
bevor	before
bis	until, by the time
da	since
damit	so that
dass	that
ehe	before
falls	in case
indem	by
nachdem	after
ob	whether, if
obwohl	although
seit(dem)	since
sobald	as soon as
sooft	as often as
soviel	as far as
während	while
weil	because
wenn	when(ever)
wie (used together with so)	as

Use indem where by + present participle is used in English.

Sie löste das Problem, indem sie ihm	She solved the problem by givng
mehr Geld gab.	him more money.

Also, both da and seit(dem) mean since. But da is used to show a cause.

Da er betrunken war, konnte er nicht	Since he was drunk, he wasn’t able to
fahren.	drive.

Seit(dem) tells from what moment in time something occurred.

Seitdem er das Haus verkauft hat,	Since he sold his house, he’s been living
wohnt er bei seinen Eltern.	with his parents.

Here are the conjunctions used in sentences. Take special note of the position of the conjugated verb in the subordinate clauses.

Sie schrie, als ob Erik sie schlüge.	She screamed as if Erik were hitting her
Als ich in Kiel wohnte, ging ich oft segeln.	When I lived in Kiel, I often went sailing.
Bevor das Kind einschlief, lächelte es seinem Vater zu.	Before the child fell asleep, he smiled at his father.
Ich kann warten, bis du fertig bist.	I can wait until you’re ready.
Da sie krank geworden war, musste sie zu Hause bleiben.	Since she had gotten sick, she had to stay at home.
Du musst schneller fahren, damit wir pünktlich ankommen.	You have to drive faster so that we arrive on time.
Ich wusste nicht, dass du das Examen bestanden hast.	I didn’t know that you passed the exam.
Ehe er abfuhr, küsste er mich.	Before he departed, he kissed me.
Wir werden uns bei mir treffen, falls es regnet.	We’ll meet at my house, in case it rains.
Er hat ihr geholfen, indem er ihr 50 Euro gab.	He helped her by giving her 50 euros.
Nachdem die Kinder nach Hause gekommen waren, wollten sie etwas zu essen haben.	After the children had come home, they wanted to have something to eat.
Niemand weiß, ob er noch in der Stadt wohnt.	No one knows whether he’s still living in the city.
Obwohl er ein guter Mensch ist, kann ich ihm kein Geld leihen.	Although he’s a good person, I can’t lend him money.
Seitdem er bei seinem Vater eingezogen war, hat er nicht gearbeitet.	Since he moved in with his father, he hasn’t worked.
Sobald der Junge das Geräusch hörte, lief er aus dem Haus hinaus.	As soon as the boy heard the noise, he ran out of the house.
Ich komme, sooft du es wünschst.	I’ll come as often as you like.
Soviel wir wissen, ist Frau Gerber noch in Afrika.	As far as we know, Ms. Gerber is still in Africa.
Mein Urgroßvater ist gestorben, während wir in den USA waren.	My great-grandfather died while we were in the U.S.A.

Er ist um halb elf aufgestanden, weil sein Wecker kaputt ist.	He got up at ten-thirty, because his alarm clock is broken.
Wenn ich in Goslar bin, besuche ich meinen Schwager.	Whenever I’m in Goslar, I visit my brother-in-law.
Seine Rede war nicht so interessant, wie wir erwartet hatten.	His speech wasn’t as interesting as we had expected.