German sentence structure

Coordinating conjunctions like und ('and') or aber ('but') precede both the prefield and the finite verb, and so do topicalised elements (similarly to "that" in English phrases such as "that I don't know").

'Non-finite verbs as well as separable particles are placed at the end of the sentence: derthe.NOM.SG.MKönigking.NOM.SGistbe.PRS.3SGanatderthe.DAT.SG.FBurgcastle.DAT.SGan=ge-komm-enon=PST.PTCP1‍-come-PST.PTCP1‍der König ist an der Burg an=ge-komm-enthe.NOM.SG.M king.NOM.SG be.PRS.3SG at the.DAT.SG.F castle.DAT.SG on=PST.PTCP1‍-come-PST.PTCP1‍'The King has arrived (lit.

'derthe.NOM.SG.MKönigking.NOM.SGkamcome.PST.3SGanatderthe.DAT.SG.FBurgcastle.DAT.SGanonder König kam an der Burg anthe.NOM.SG.M king.NOM.SG come.PST.3SG at the.DAT.SG.F castle.DAT.SG on'The King arrived (lit.

Conventional German syntax presents information within a sentence in the following order:[citation needed]

Wegen ihres Jahrestages bereiten wir unseren Eltern einen Ausflug nach München vor.

In conversational past tense, comparisons can be put after both parts of the verb.

They begin with a question word, which is followed by the conjugated verb, followed by the subject (if there is one), and then the rest of the sentence.

'However, conjunctions and topicalised elements still precede the finite verb: aberbuthasthave.PRS.2SGduyou.SGdenthe.ACC.SG.MBaumtree.ACC.SGge-seh-enPST.PTCP1‍-see-PST.PTCP1‍aber hast du den Baum ge-seh-enbut have.PRS.2SG you.SG the.ACC.SG.M tree.ACC.SG PST.PTCP1‍-see-PST.PTCP1‍'But have you seen the tree?

Like questions, commands use V1 word order: reich-(e)pass-IMP.SGmirI.DATdasthe.ACC.SG.NSalzsalt.ACC.SGreich-(e) mir das Salzpass-IMP.SG I.DAT the.ACC.SG.N salt.ACC.SG'Pass me the salt!

'Like in English, nouns or non-finite verb forms can sometimes be used to give commands: Achtungattention.NOM.SGStufestep.NOM.SGAchtung Stufeattention.NOM.SG step.NOM.SG'Mind the step!

'wirwe.NOMsoll-t-enshall-PRET-1PLunswe.REFLbeeil-enhurry-INFdamitin.order.thatwirwe.NOMrechtzeitigin.timean=komm-enon=.come-INFwir soll-t-en uns beeil-en damit wir rechtzeitig an=komm-enwe.NOM shall-PRET-1PL we.REFL hurry-INF in.order.that we.NOM in.time on=.come-INF'We should hurry so that we arrive in time.

As in most Germanic languages, including Old English, both of these varieties inflect according to gender, case and number.

They take their gender and number from the noun which they modify, but the case from their function in their own clause.

'The relative pronoun dem is neuter singular to agree with Haus, but dative because it follows a preposition in its own clause.

However, German uses the uninflecting was ('what') as a relative pronoun when the antecedent is alles, etwas or nichts ('everything', 'something', 'nothing'.).

An adverbial clause begins with a conjunction, defining its relation to the verb or nominal phrase described.