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Word order |
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The chapter "Word order" describes the order of the constituents (subject, predicate, object, etc.) in a sentence or clause. The order of the words in a constituent is described in the chapter "Phrases".
The predicate is the central constituent of a sentence. It always consists of at least one finite verb form. According to the position of this finite verb form, we distinguish three different types of word order:
| Verb-second clause |
The finite verb comes second |
Sie kauft ein Auto. |
| Verb-first clause |
The finite verb comes first |
Kauft sie ein Auto? |
| Verb-last clause |
The finite verb comes last |
dass sie ein Auto kauft. |
When the predicate consists of two parts, they form the so-called sentence brackets. The sentence brackets divide the sentence into different topological fields:
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Sentence brackets
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Vorfeld
(Pre-field)
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(
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Mittelfeld
(Middle field)
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)
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Nachfeld
(Post-field)
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| Der Großvater |
hat |
seinem Enkel ein Buch |
geschenkt, |
das der Kleine sofort las. |
These fields are occupied by the constituents of the sentence. The different topological fields are occupied differently:
The Vorfeld can be occupied by any kind of constituent. Usually, only one constituent can be in the Vorfeld:
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Vorfeld
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(
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Der Großvater
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hat |
seinem Enkel das Buch gestern geschenkt. |
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Seinem Enkel
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hat |
der Großvater das Buch gestern geschenkt. |
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Das Buch
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hat |
der Großvater seinem Enkel gestern geschenkt. |
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Gestern
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hat |
der Großvater seinem Enkel das Buch geschenkt. |
The Nachfeld cannot be occupied by more than one constituent, either, but only a few types of constituents are allowed in the Nachfeld
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)
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Nachfeld
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Der Großvater hat seinem Enkel ein Buch
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gegeben, |
das der Kleine sofort las. |
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Die Diebe haben in der Nacht
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versucht |
über das Dach einzudringen. |
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Heute ist der Athlet schneller
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gerannt |
als gestern. |
In principle, the Mittelfeld can be occupied by any number and any kind of constituents. The order of the constituents in the Mittelfeld is relatively free:
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(
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Mittelfeld
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)
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| Er |
hat |
seinem Enkel das Buch gestern |
geschenkt. |
| Er |
hat |
seinem Enkel gestern das Buch |
geschenkt. |
| Er |
hat |
das Buch seinem Enkel gestern |
geschenkt. |
| Er |
hat |
das Buch gestern seinem Enkel |
geschenkt. |
| Er |
hat |
gestern seinem Enkel das Buch |
geschenkt. |
| Er |
hat |
gestern das Buch seinem Enkel |
geschenkt. |
Nevertheless, the order of the constituents in the Mittelfeld is governed by some (partially conflicting) rules and tendencies. Grammatical factors as well as factors such as the speech situation and the intention of the speaker affect the word order in the Mittelfeld. The interaction between these rules and factors often results in a multitude of possible word orders for one sentence.
Word order is described under the following topics:
Note:
German word order is relatively free. At the same time, it is very complex because it is affected by several interacting and partially conflicting factors. Most of the principles of word order described here are tendencies rather than strict rules. Therefore, the chapter "Word order" cannot be exhaustive. It presents, however, the most important rules and tendencies.
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