Corrr1uHcrroHs t69

D lfyou use a co-ordinating conjunction, you do not putthe verb atthe end ofthe
coNJUNCTIONS clause ffi inning with the conjunctlon.
Wir wollten ins Theater, aber wir We wanted to go to the theatre
What is a conjunction? hatten kein Geld. butwe had no money.
A conjunction is a lin king word such as and, but, if and becouse, that links two wir= subject
words or phrases of a sim ilar type, for example, Dione ond I hove been friends for hatten = verb
yeors. Conj unctions also lin k two clauses, for exam ple,l left because I was bored.
In German there are two types of conjunctions, called co-ordinating
conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions'

Co-ordinating conjunctions
D aber, denn, odef sondern and und are the most important co-ordinating
conjunctions.
. aberbut
Wir wollten ins Kino, aber wir hatten We wanted to 90 to the cinema,
kein Geld. butwe had no moneY.
trtote that you can't use aberafter a negative to mean not . '. but you must
@ .. ':
use sondern.
o aberhowever
lch wollte nach Hause, er aber wollte I wanted to go home; however,
nicht mit. he wouldn't come.

[J trtote tnat when aber means'however', it comes between the subject and verb
in the clause.
o denn because. since
Wirwollten heute fahren, denn We wanted to travel today because
montags ist weniger Verkehr. there is less trafTlc on MondaYs.
o oderor
Sie hatte noch nie Whisky oder She had never drunk whisky or
Schnaps getrunken. schnapps.
Willst du eins oder hast du vielleicht Do you want one or aren't you
keinen Hunger? hungry?
o sondern but
Es kostet nicht zwanzig, sondern It doesn't cost twenty euros,
fiinfzig Euro. but fifty.
o undand
Susi und Oliver 5usi and Oliver
Er ging in die Stadt und kaufte sich He went into town and bought
ein neues Hemd. himself a new shirt'

Forfurther explanation ofgrammatical terms, please see Pages x-xiv.

17o Col.t1urucnorus Cot'tlutrlcnons r7r

Co-ordinating conjunctions with two parts

> Cerman, like English, also has conjunctions which have more than one part.
Here are the most common ones:
o sowohl ... als (auch) both ... and
The verb is plural, whether the individual subjects are singular or plural.
Sowohl sein Vater als auch seine Both his fatherand motherwere
Mutter haben sich dariiber gefreut. pleased about it.
Sowohl unser Lehrkdrper als auch Both our staffand pupils took
unsere Schiiler haben teilgenommen. part.
weder... noch neither... nor
With this conjunction, the verb is plural unless both subjects are singulal
as shown below.
Weder die Lehrer noch die Sch0ler Neither the teachers nor the
haben recht. pupils are right.
Weder du noch ich wiirde es schaffen. Neither you nor I would be able
to do it.
When weder ... noch is used to lin k clauses. the subiect and verb are
swapped round in BOTH clauses.
Weder mag ich ihn noch respektiere I neither like nor respect him.
ich ihn.
nicht nur... sondern auch not only... but also
The verb agrees innumberwith the subject nearest to it.
Nicht nur sie, sondern auch ich habe They weren't the only ones to
es gehiirt. hear it - | heard it too.
When nicht nur... sondern auch is used to link clauses, the subjectand
verb are only swapped round i n the fi rst clause, not the second, BUT if
nicht nur does not begin the clause, word order is normal.
Nicht nur ist sie geschickt, sondern
auch intelligent.
OR
sie ist nicht nur geschickt, sondern She is not only skilful but also
auch intelligent. intelligent.
o entweder... oder either... or
The verb agrees in numberwith the subject nearest to it. When entweder
... oder is used to link clauses, the subject and verb are only swapped round
in the fi rst clause, not the second
Entweder du oder Karla muss es It must have been either you or
getan haben. Karla.
Entweder komme ich vorbei, oder l'll either drop in or
ich rufe dich an. l'll give you a ring.

For further explanation ofgrammatical terms, please see pages x-xiv.

172 Corulurucnons Corrrlurucrrorus r73

5u bordinating conjunctions
Ttp
l The subordinate clause is always separated from the main clause by a comma. lf translating when.i:n a sentence which describes a single, completed
It is called a subordinate clause because it cannot stand on its own without action in the past, you use als, NOT wenn. you use wenn for single,
the other clause in the sentence and is linked to this by a subordinating momentary actions in the present or futu re.
conJuncuon.
Sie ist zu FuB gekommen, weil der She came on Foot because the o weil because
Bus zu teuer ist. bus is too dear.
Morgen komme ich nicht, weil ich I'm not coming tomorrow
MAIN CLAUSE = Sie ist zu FuR gekommen keine Zeit habe. Decause I don't have the time.
SUBORDINATE CLAUSE = weil der Bus zu teuer ist
o um ... zu in orderto...
[J ruotethatthe verb comes atthe end ofthe subordinate clause. Um friih aufzgstehen, musste sie In order to get up early, she had
l als, da, damit, dass, ob, obwohl, wihrend, wenn, weil, um ..' zu, and ohne ... den Wecker stellen. to set the alarm.
zu are some of the most important subordinating conjunctions.
@ trtote tnat zu is inserted between a separable verb and its prefix.
o als (when) S ps7 msys informotion on Seporobleverbs, see plge rcg.
regnete, als ich in Glasgow ankam. It was raining when I arrived in
Es o ohne... zu without...
Glasgow.
Er verlieR das Haus, ohne ein Wort He left the house without
o da (as, since) zu sagen. saying a word
Da du nicht kommen willst, gehe ich Since you don't want to come,
allein. l'llgo on my own. @ ruotetnatum...zuandohne...zuarealwaysusedwithinfinitiveconstructions.

. damit so (that) @ ruote that with the subordinating conjunctions als, da, damit, dass, ob,
obwohl, wihrend, wenn, weil, um ... zu, and ohne... zu, the subordinate
lch sage dir das, damit du es weiBt. l'm telling you so thatyou know. clause can come BEFORE the main clause, as seen in the example with da.
. dassthat When this happens, the verb and subject of the main clause swap places.
lch weiB, dass du besser in Mathe I know (that) you're better * For more information on the tnfrnitive, see page ;54.
bist als ich. at maths than me.
> ln tenses which only have one verb part, such as the present and imperfect,
o ob if, whether the verb comes last in the subordinate clause.
fragt, ob du auch kommst. 5he wants to lcnow if you're
Sie
coming too.
Wenn er mich sah, lief er davon. Whenever he saw me, he ran awav.

o > In tenses which have two verb parts, such as the perfect tense, it is the form
obwohlalthough of haben, sein orwerden which comes last in the subordinate clause. afterthe
Sie blieb lange auf, obwohlsie mlide She stayed up late although she past participle.
war. was ti red.
Siewill nicht ausgehen, weil sie She doesn't want to go out
o wihrend while noch nichts qegessen hat. because she hasn't eaten
Sie sah fern, wihrend sie ihre She was watchingWwhile she anything yet.
Hausaufgaben machte. was doing her homework.
* For more information on the Perfect lnd lmperfeatenses, see pages n3 ond n8.
o wenn when, whenever/if
D Any modal verb, for example m6,gen (meaning to like) and k6,nnen (meaning
Wenn ich nach Hause komme, When I get home, the first thing can, to be able to), used i n a subord i nate clause is placed last i n the clause.
dusche ich erst mal. l'm going to do is have a shower.
Sie wusste nicht, ob sie kommen She didn't know if she could come
Wenn er anruft, sag mir Bescheid. lf he calls, tell me.
konnte.

Forfurther explanation ofgrammatical terms, please see pages x-xiv. 9 For more information on Modolverbs, see p0ge36