guide to german grammar

8/18/2019 Guide to German Grammar

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A Complete Guide To German GrammarAlemão 12063 73

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C. Bade-Governale

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When speaking or writing German, one often has more than only one

option to express the same thing. Having a range of ways to express

ourselves via German grammar means we can play around with our

style. In the chart below, we see three kinds of words (prepositions,

conjunctions and adverbs) corresponding to each other.

What are the differences between them?

In German grammar, prepositions are followed by a noun (which could

be in the accusative, dative or genitive form depending on the

preposition). Conjunctions introduce a sentence, and so must be atthe beginning of the sentence. Adverbs can alter a verb, an adjective or

another adverb. Usually, we will find them either in the first position or

after the verb in the third (sometimes fourth) position.

PräpositionenKonjunktionen

Hauptsatz

Konjunktionen

NebensatzAdverb

final zum/zurdamit

um…zu + Inf.dazu

kausal

wegen

aufgrund

(infolge)

aus

vor

denn da

weil

nämlich

deshalb

deswegen

weshalb

weswegen

deshalb

deswegen

daher

darum


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konsekutiv Infolge (von) daher

darum

so

dass

(so... dass)

folglich

also

infolge-

dessen

aus

diesem

Grund

konditional bei

wenn (if)

falls

sofern

konzessiv trotz trotzdem obwohl

obgleich

trotzdem

dennoc

Temporal

vorzeitignach nachdem

danach

nachher

Temporal

gleichzeitig

während

bei

währenddessenwährend

als

(Vergangenheit)

wenn (when)

während-

dessen

dabei

Temporal

nachzeitig vor bevor

davor

vorher

Temporal

Startpunktseit seitdem

seit(dem)

seitdem

TemporalEndpunkt

bis (zu)bis

dahin bis

bis

dahin

bisher


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1. Final

Zur Reinigung des Gerätes sollte man nur Wasser benutzen.

Um das Gerät zu reinigen, sollte man nur Wasser benutzen.

>Damit auch noch andere Leute den Raum benutzen können,

sollten Sie ihn sauber halten.

Ich möchte das Gerät reinigen. Dazu muss man Wasser benutzen.

‘um ...zu’ and ‘damit ’ have the same meaning, but the first one requires

an infinitive, while the latter one requires a conjugated verb. The

(unexpressed) subject of ‘um...zu’ is the same as the one of the main

sentence (man). On the contrary, ‘damit ’ is only used when both

sentences have different subjects (andere Leute, Sie).

A typical mistake is in using ‘für ’, instead of the correct ‘ zur/zum’, when

we want to express the English equivalent of the word ‘for’.

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2. Causal

Wegen/Aufgrund der lauten Musik kann ich nicht schlafen.Ich kann nicht schlafen, denn die Musik ist so laut.

Da die Musik so laut ist, kann ich nicht schlafen.

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Ich kann nicht schlafen, weil die Musik so laut ist.

Die Musik ist so laut. Deshalb/Deswegen//Daher/Darum kann ich

nicht schlafen./ Ich kann deshalb/... nicht schlafen.

Ich kann nicht schlafen. Die Musik ist nämlich so laut.

‘ Aufgrund ’ is always used with the genitive case, while ‘Wegen’ can be

used either with genitive (more commonly when written) or dative

(more commonly when spoken). After ‘denn’ follows the main

sentence with the verb in the second position. ‘Denn’ is considered as

position zero.

There are minor differences between ‘da’ and ‘weil ’. Most of the native

speakers would probably prefer to put the subordinate clause with ‘da’

at the beginning, while the one with ‘weil ’ at the end. The second

difference lies in a tiny difference in meaning: it is more likely that the

reason in the ‘weil ’ sentence is important or new, while the reason in

the ‘da’ sentence is often less important or already known.

‘Deshalb, ‘deswegen’/'daher’/'darum’ are all conjunctions and adverbs,

therefore they can be placed either at the beginning of a sentence, or

after the main verb. ‘Nämlich’ is an adverb and so will never be placed

in the first position.

3. Consecutive

Infolge des Schneesturms sind viele Straßen gesperrt.

Heute Nacht gab es einen großen Schneesturm.

Deshalb/deswegen… sind viele Straßen gesperrt.Heute Nacht gab es einen großen Schneesturm, weswegen viele

Straßen gesperrt sind.


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Heute Nacht gab es einen großen Schneesturm. Viele Straßen sind

deshalb/deswegen … gesperrt.

‘Infolge’ is derived from the noun ‘Folge’ (consequence). Therefore it is

considered a consecutive preposition, even if it is not followed by theconsequence, but the reason. It has the same meaning as ‘Wegen’, but

is used in the formal language.

‘Deshalb, ‘deswegen’/'daher’/'darum’ are considered conjunctions and

adverbs at the same time, therefore they can be placed either at the

beginning of the sentence, just like a conjunction, or after the mainverb.

4. Conditional

Bei Schnee muss man vorsichtig fahren.

Wenn es schneit, muss man vorsichtig fahren.

Falls es schneit, komme ich nicht.

Sofern es nicht schneit, komme ich.

The preposition ‘bei ’ (at, in, with, by) has many meanings. Perhaps the

most used meaning is the local preposition. Here, we are talking about

a condition. The noun is often derived from a verb (Schnee –

schneien), because the important thing is the event (of snowing)

‘Falls’ means ‘only if’, so the condition is stronger than with ‘wenn’.

Therefore, ‘falls’ can be replaced by ‘wenn’, but ‘wenn’ can't be alwaysreplaced by ,falls’. It is correct to say: Wenn es schneit, komme ich


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nicht. But it is wrong to say: Falls es regnet, muss man vorsichtig

fahren.

The rain is only one reason among others to pay attention when

driving. ’Sofern’ has the same meaning as ‘falls’, but is used in a formalcontext.

5. Concessive

Trotz des Regens ist er spazieren gegangen.

Obwohl/obgleich es regnet, ist er spazieren gegangen.

Es regnet. Trotzdem/Dennoch geht er spazieren./ Er geht

trotzdem/dennoch spazieren.

‘Trotz’ (in spite of) is used with genitive.

‘Obwohl ’ means ‘although’ (‘obgleich’ is old fashioned).

‘Trotzdem’ (nevertheless) and ‘dennoch’ (yet, still) are both adverbs

and conjunctions.

6. Temporal

6.1. The main event occurs after the other one

Nach dem Essen gehen wir spazieren.


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Nachdem wir gegessen haben, gehen wir spazieren.

Nachdem wir gegessen hatten, gingen wir spazieren/sind wir

spazieren gegangen.

Um 8 Uhr haben wir gegessen. Danach sind wir spazieren

gegangen.

Jetzt essen wir und nachher gehen wir spazieren.

The preposition ‘ nach’ is used with dative.

With ‘ nachdem’ anteriority must be expressed. When using present

tense in the main sentence, then ‘ perfekt ’ is required in the ‘ nachdem’-sentence. When the action is in the past, we must have

‘ plusquamperfekt ’ in the subordinate clause, and in the main sentence

we must have either ‘ präteritum’ or ‘ perfekt’ . ‘While ‘präteritum’ would

follow the correct time order, it is not often used in the spoken

language.

The difference between ‘ nachher ’ and ‘danach’ is a tiny one. Both

meaning and grammar are the same. Only the time they are referring

to is different. ‘ nachher ’ refers to now. That means, the first sentence is

always an event taking place now, and followed by the event in the

second sentence. On the contrary, ‘danach’ refers to any time,

including now.

It is wrong to say: Um 8 Uhr haben wir gegessen, und nachher sind wir

spazieren gegangen. But it is correct to say: Jetzt essen wir und

danach gehen wir spazieren.

In the spoken language, both forms are often used interchangeably.


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The translation into English may cause some mistakes: ‘ nach’ and

‘ nachdem’ translates as ‘after’, while ‘danach’ and ‘ nachher ’ as ‘after

that’.

6.2. Two events occur at the same time

Während des Essens habe ich ferngesehen.

Bei diesem Wetter möchte ich nicht rausgehen.

Während ich gegessen habe, habe ich ferngesehen.

Ich habe ferngesehen. Währenddessen/dabei habe ich gegessen.

/Ich habe währenddessen/dabei gegessen.

Als ich in der Schule war, hatte ich immer viele Hausaufgaben.

Wenn es regnet, bleibe ich lieber zu Hause.

(Immer) wenn ich bei meinen Großeltern war, mussten wir

spazieren gehen.

The preposition ‘während ’ is used with genitive, and the preposition

‘bei ’ (at, with) is used with dative. ‘Während ’ when used as a

preposition translates to ‘during’; when used as a conjunction, it

translates to ‘while’. ‘Währenddessen’ (in the meantime) is either a

conjunction or an adverb.

‘Wenn’ and ‘als’ have the same meaning (when), with one difference.

‘Wenn’ is used in present tense, and in the past tense with recurring

events. ‘ Als’ is used in the past tense with single events, and with

descriptions of time periods.

6.3. The main event occurs before the other one


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Vor dem Essen müsst ihr noch euer Zimmer aufräumen.

Bevor wir gegessen haben, mussten wir noch unser Zimmer

aufräumen.

Wir essen bald. Davor müsst ihr noch euer Zimmer aufräumen.

Ich esse gerade. Vorher habe ich mein Zimmer aufgeräumt.

These prepositions, conjunctions and adverbs work almost in the

same way as the ones in 6.1 do, with one exception. While with

‘ nachdem’ a strict time sequence is required, this is not the case for

‘bevor ’. Even it is clear that one event must follow the other, here

usually the same time is used. ‘davor ’ refers to any time, but ‘vorher ’

refers only to now.

Since all of them translate either to ‘before’ (vor, bevor) or ‘before that’

(davor, vorher), it might be a potential source of mistakes.

6.4. Starting point

Seit ihrem letzten Treffen haben sie sich nicht mehr gesehen.

Seit(dem) sie sich das letzte Mal getroffen haben, haben sie sich

nicht mehr gesehen.

Sie haben sich vor zwei Monaten getroffen. Seitdem haben sie sich

nicht mehr gesehen./ Sie haben sich seitdem nicht mehr gesehen.

Please note that the preposition ‘seit ’ (since) is always used with

present tense (in contrast to the corresponding English sentence),

because the event is still going on.

The conjunction can be either ‘seit ’ (since) or ‘seitdem’ (since).

‘seitdem’ (since then, since that time), which can also be an adverb.


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6.5. Final point

Das Projekt muss bis Montag fertig sein.Das Projekt muss bis zum 1.Oktober fertig sein.

>

Das Projekt muss am 1.Oktober fertig sein. Bis dahin haben wir

noch etwas Zeit./ Wir haben bis dahin noch etwas Zeit.

Wir konnten bisher noch nicht viel an dem Projekt arbeiten.

When the preposition ‘bis’ (‘to’ or ‘until’) is used with an article, we

need the second preposition ‘ zu’. ‘Bis dahin’ (until then) refers to any

time except now. ‘Bisher ’ means ‘until now’, so has some analogy to

‘ nachher ’ and ‘vorher ’.

Hopefully this overview was able to help you understand Germangrammar--specifically, prepositions, conjunctions, and adverbs--a little

bit.

If there is anything missing in this list, such as an important example,

please feel free to mention it in the comments.

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C. Bade-Governale (/teacher/1526456)

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