German Word Order

German is an SVO language. This is the same as English. However, German word order can be quite different from English. Let us look at a few examples.

In the sentence Ich sehe das Haus (I see the house), the German word order is the same as in English. However, in the question Kannst Du das Haus sehen? (Can you see the house?), the infinitive see is placed at the end. This is also true for past participles as in Ich habe das Haus gesehen (I have seen the house).

In subordinate clauses German verbs are placed at the end. The sentence Sie ist krank (She is sick) has the same word order as English. However, the sentence Sie kann nicht kommen, weil sie krank ist (She can't come because she is sick) places the verb is at the end. Also notice that a comma separates the main clause from the subordinate clause.

German also has V2 movement. This simply means that the verb must be the second constituent of every sentence. The sentence Wir kommen (We're coming) has the same word order as English, but Jetzt kommen wir (Now we're coming) is different. Here the verb comes before the subject.

Though German is an SVO language, many German sentences have a different word order from that of English. This can be seen in subordinate clauses, sentences with infinitives and past participles and in sentences subject to the V2 movement rule. German word order often places verbs, past participles and infinitives in sentence final position.