Let’s look at this more closely! Pattern #1: Standard When we translate patterns #2-4 word-for-word, the English versions sound very weird. Notice how it’s ONLY pattern #1 that translates cleanly into English. (I wanted to call my grandma ‘because I her love!’) Pattern #1 + #4 (Standard + Subordinating): Ich wollte meine Oma anrufen, weil ich sie liebe! Pattern #3 (Transposed): Meine Oma wollte ich anrufen Pattern #2 (Inverted): Wollte ich meine Oma anrufen Pattern #1 (Standard): Ich wollte meine Oma anrufen. In order to understand the super-nuanced details of word order, we need to first take a step back and afford ourselves a bird’s eye view of these meta German sentence structure patterns (<– if you haven’t already read this ‘starter guide’ to German word order, stop and read this first before continuing here!).Īs always, you can leverage your advantages as an adult learner of German by comparing English & German grammar structures, so … English & German Word Order, ComparedĬheck out these examples of German sentences and their word-for-word English translations: On a meta-level, there are FOUR word order patterns used for sentences as a whole and then additional rules governing the word order of particular elements within the sentence. While this means that there’s, again, some new principles to learn in order to master German sentence structure, I personally really appreciate the additional creativity of German sentences and I hope you’ll learn to find it fun, too! As per usual, English has simpler sentence structure options while the possibilities in German are more numerous and complex. ‘Word order’ refers to a set of rules that determine how we can properly construct sentences in order to convey our desired meaning.Īs surely comes as no surprise at this point, there are different word order patterns in English vs. So, what is word order exactly and how does it function in English vs. the case system & declensions, make that possible! The word order differences between English and German are due to these languages belonging to entirely different categories of language - analytic and inflected, respectively.Įnglish uses very rigid word order because it must, in lieu of other grammar components which were erased from the language over the centuries.īut German has relatively flexible word order because it can - certain grammar elements, i.e. when & how to use the subordinating sentence pattern.why ‘time manner place’ is too simplistic (but the real rule is easier!).the correct positioning of German ‘slots’.Ich bleibe bei meiner Meinung I’m sticking with my opinion Grammar of "bei" Declension of "bei"īei does not change, just like all the other prepositions. Ich beginne beim Anfang I’m starting at the beginning bleiben bei (staying with/ sticking with) bleiben bei (to maintain/stick with, stay at, to reaffirm).Wir fangen nicht bei Null an We didn’t start at zero Verbs with the preposition bei Wasser kocht bei 100º C Water boils at 100✬ ![]() "Bei" is used together with temperatures or numbers Ich bin am Essen can also be said bei to refer to temperatures and numbers NOTE: Given that all the nominalized verbs are neuter and have an article, the structure is always:īei + dem + verb in the infinitive ➜ because it always contracts, the form is ➜ Ich bin beim Essen I am eating (Sort of like: I am at the meal) With the construction "bei" + nominalized verb you can form a type of gerund in German: ![]() Wir haben bei dem Festival einige Freunde getroffen We met some friends during the festival bei + Nominalized verb Wovon träumst du bei Nacht? What do you dream during the night? Wohnst Du bei der Schule? Do you live close to the school? bei as a temporal preposition (meaning during/while) bei + Noun that indicates a period of time Mein Auto ist bei der Jahresinspektion My car is at its annual inspection bei with the meaning of near (location) Ich bin bei der Polizei I’m at the police stationĮr war bei der Bundeswehr He was in the armyĭer Rechner war bei Amazon im Angebot The computer was on sale on Amazon To say that one is at work, at the company, organization or activity: Ich bin beim Arzt / Frisör / Bäcker I’m at the doctor’s / hair cutter’s / baker’s bei + place of work (location) This means that one is with a professional in their place of business or consultation: Hans ist bei Ralf Hans is with Ralf (at his home)ĭie Kiste war bei mir The box was with me bei + a professional (location) It is used to say that one is with a person (at their home) We’ll show them now: 'bei' as a locative preposition bei + person (location) The preposition "bei" is one of the most complicated ones because it is used in many different contexts.
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