Skip to entryViewed
Expat SpeakFree Resources A1 German

Grammar

Numbers, time and connecting ideas

Joining thoughts without losing sentence structure

und adds, aber contrasts, oder offers an alternative, denn supplies a reason, sondern replaces a negated alternative. These coordinating connectors do not, by themselves, send the finite verb to the end: Ich bleibe zu Hause, denn ich bin müde. When the subject is the same, it can often be shared: Ich koche und höre Musik.

deshalb/dann are not the same kind of connector. When they start a main clause, the finite verb follows: Ich bin müde. Deshalb bleibe ich zu Hause. Dann schlafe ich. A later chapter introduces subordinate weil; do not mix the two word-order patterns.

Example
Ich möchte kommen, aber ich muss arbeiten.
English
I would like to come, but I have to work.
Hinglish
Main aana chahta hoon, lekin mujhe kaam karna hai.
Worked example

Ich habe Hunger. Deshalb kaufe ich Brot.

Hinglish: Mujhe bhookh lagi hai. Isliye main bread khareed raha hoon.

Browse entries