Sentence Structure (Word Order)

In statements, the conjugated verb (as a predicate or part of a predicate) is the second part of the sentence (sentence structure position) (=Second Verb Phrase).

The first part of the sentence is usually the subject.

The subject and other sentence parts (additions, details) can be moved around between the 1st, 3rd etc. parts of the sentence (permutation). The conjugated verb must remain in the second position.

The transfer of the subject from the first position to another (most often the third) position is called an inversion (subject-verb inversion).

There are two possibilities when it comes to questions:

The probe question has a question word (w-word) in the first part of the sentence and a conjugated verb in the second part (= second verb phrase):

The yes-no question has a conjugated verb in the first part of the sentence (= first verb phrase).

In a command or request sentence, the imperative verb form is in the first position (= first verb phrase), e.g.:

If the predicate is a multiple predicate, the parts in the sentence form a Satzklammer (sentence bracket) when other phrases are present. This means, the predicate elements spread out and take different sentence structure positions, in a statement (second verb phrase) e.g.:

If an accusative object (acc.) and a dative object (dat.) occur in a sentence, the placement after the conjugated verb form (from the 3rd sentence position) is as follows:

nouns as objects:
1. dat. (less emphasized) – acc. (more emphasized), e.g.:

2. acc. (less emphasized) – dat. (more emphasized), e.g.:

pronouns as objects:
always acc. – dat., e.g.:

The conjugated verb form is usually found in the final sentence position (final verb phrase) in a subordinate clause (subset of a complex sentence) when it has been introduced/initiated (e.g. by a conjunction or a subjunction), e.g.:

If the subordinate clause comes before the main clause in a complex sentence, the conjugated verb form is placed in the 1st position, e.g.:

If the subordinate clause is not introduced, the conjugated verb form is placed in the 2nd or 1st position, e.g.: