Learn the German Language Subscribe to my feed

Sentence structure in German

February 11th, 2009

The structure of a basic statement is quite simple.

Subject – Verb (conjugated) – Infinitive or Object

Example:

Ich esse den Apfel – I eat the apple.

Der König lässt eine Burg bauen – The King has a castle built (The King – allows – a castle to be built)

Here is the order in which each component of a sentence should be put together:

Wem (to/for whom – dative object) Wann (when – time) Warum (why – manner) Wie (how – manner) Wo (where – place) Wen (whom – accusative object) Wohin/Woher (to/from where)

To make that simpler, cut a few corners and make it a bit easier to digest:

Who – When -Whom or What – Where

“Wir gehen am Freitag miteinander ins Kino.” – Literally, We go on Friday together to the movies.

Hint:  It often helps if you pretend to be a pirate: “In  der Küche sind die Fenster groß” – In the kitchen be the windows large!…  Ar har!

3 Responses to “Sentence structure in German”

  1. JaneRadriges Says:

    The article is usefull for me. I’ll be coming back to your blog.

  2. Courtney Says:

    Hello, I have found your blog to be one of the most useful sites in helping me master this unforgivably stupid language. It seems that you have had the same questions/problems as me and I am definitely bookmarking it! Thank you so much. I am starting to feel like its actually possible to learn this now. :)

  3. admin Says:

    You’ve inspired me to get a move on and start working on my German again. Thanks Courtney :-)

Leave a Reply