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Konjunktionen


learning target


Aim of this section is to learn how to connect two sentences.

German

English

Sie ist nett und sie sieht gut aus.
Ich werde dich anrufen oder ich werde dir schreiben.
Ich weiß, dass sie mich mag.

She is nice and she looks pretty.
I'll call you or I'll write to you.
I know that she likes me.



rules


We have to distinguish between two types of conjunctions:

  • coordinating conjunctions
  • subcoordinating conjunctions
 

coordinating conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions join two "independent" sentences.
That means both sentences could stand alone without the other sentence and they would make sence alone.


example:

Both sentences could stand alone and would make sense:

  1. Ich lernte für die Prüfung (I studied for the exam.)
  2. Er ging ins Kino. (He went to the cinema.)

The word order remains in both sentences as if they stood alone.



all coordinating conjunctions

und=and


oder=or


denn=because


aber=but


sondern=but


As you can see we have two words in German to say "but" and it's a bit tricky to explain the difference.

Both words are used if the idea of second sentence is in contrast to the idea of the first sentence.
There is, however, a slight difference: "Sondern" is only used if the two ideas come for the same "category".
With "category" I mean eg. a profession (doctor / manager) or a game (tennis / badminton) or a temperatur (cold / warm)...

example:

In the first example "cold" and "warm" are both adjectives which describe temperature. So, they come from one "category".

In the second example the two ideas of the two sentences are in contrast, too
but one sentence describes a temperatur and they other what somebody is going to wear.


last hint:

At last hint which might help you is, that there must be a negation form (nicht or kein) in the first sentence
to use "sondern." If there is no "nicht or kein" in the first sentence you have to use "aber".


 

subcoordinating conjunctions

Subcoordinating conjunctions join a dependent clause (subordinate clause) to an independent clause (main clause).
The dependent clause (mostly the second sentence) doesn't make sense without the sentence in front.


example:

The first sentence could stand alone.
The second sentence, however, doesn't make sense alone. In the second sentence you don't know what the "that" is refering to.

  1. Ich weiß. (I know.)
  2. dass wir uns wiedersehen. (that we'll meet again.)

The word order in the independent clause (main clause) remains as usual.
The word order in the dependent clause (subordinate clause) changes.


I don't want to go into detail here but just this rule: "In dependent clauses the verb goes to the very end of the sentence".
Check the topic "Satzstellung" (word order) for more details.



10 important subcoordinating conjunctions


dass=that


weil=because


ob=if / whether


seit=since


während=while


obwohl=although


bis=until


bevor=before


als=when


damit=so that


further important subcoordinating conjunctions

German

English

als ob

as if

anstatt

instead of

da

because

daher

therefore, thus

ehe

before

nachdem

after

seitdem

since

sobald

as soon as

solange

as long as

trotz

despite

wenn

when / if

wann

when


last hint:

Dependent clauses are separated by a comma from the rest.
So, always put a comma in front of the subcoordinating conjunction.
It also makes it easier to read the two sentences which are joined together.


 

exercises


Konjunktionen 1

 

tom homework

 

Lösung

 

Konjunktionen 2

 

tom homework

 

Lösung

 


summary - documents for your folder


Konjunktionen (theory, 5 pages)