German Conjunctions: weil, dass, wenn and the Verb That Goes Last

Every German subordinating conjunction charges the same tax: the conjugated verb is evicted to the end of the clause, however long the clause runs on for.

Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil ich krank bin. - I am staying at home because I am ill.

English says because I am ill. German says, word for word, because I ill am. That one shift is most of what this page is about, and it is not a quirk of weil. It is what happens after dass, wenn, ob, obwohl and a couple of dozen other words, and once you know which words trigger it, German word order stops feeling arbitrary.

The practical problem is that German has three kinds of joining word, they all look alike, and each does something different to the verb. Learn which group a word belongs to and the word order follows automatically.

The three groups

The same idea can live in all three groups. Because is denn (group one) or weil (group two), and that is why is deshalb (group three). The meaning barely changes; the verb moves each time.

Group one: the five that change nothing

und (and), aber (but), oder (or), denn (because) and sondern (but rather) join two main clauses and sit in the gap between them without counting as part of either. The clause after them has normal main-clause order, verb second:

Ich bin müde, aber ich arbeite noch. - I am tired, but I am still working.

Ich bleibe zu Hause, denn ich bin krank. - I am staying at home, for I am ill.

German learners often remember the five as ADUSO: aber, denn, und, sondern, oder. Everything that is not on that list and joins clauses is in group two or three, which is the useful thing about knowing it.

sondern needs a word of its own. It means but only after a negative, when the second half replaces the first: Er ist nicht mein Bruder, sondern mein Vater. (He is not my brother but my father.) Where English but adds a contrast without cancelling anything, German uses aber.

Group two: the verb goes last

These are the conjunctions that open a subordinate clause, and in a German subordinate clause the conjugated verb goes to the very end. The commonest ones, roughly in the order you will need them:

Four details make the rule work in real sentences.

With two verbs, the conjugated one is last of all. A modal or an auxiliary goes after the infinitive or participle: Er sagt, dass er gehen muss. Ich weiß, dass du es gesehen hast. Infinitive or participle first, then the verb that carries the person. (The one exception, a perfect with two infinitives, as in dass er hat kommen müssen, puts the auxiliary in front of them; it can wait until you need it.)

Separable verbs join up again. In a main clause the prefix splits off (Ich rufe dich an). At the end of a subordinate clause the verb has no reason to split, so it goes back together: weil ich dich morgen anrufe.

A comma always marks the boundary. German punctuation is not a matter of taste here; every subordinate clause is fenced off by commas.

The same rule covers relative clauses. der Film, den ich gesehen habe sends habe to the end for the same reason, which is why German relative pronouns and conjunctions are best learned in the same week.

When the subordinate clause comes first

German main clauses keep the verb in second position, and a whole subordinate clause can fill first position. So when you open with weil or wenn, the main verb comes directly after the comma, before its subject:

Weil ich krank bin, bleibe ich zu Hause. - Because I am ill, I am staying at home.

Wenn du Zeit hast, komm doch mit. - If you have time, come along.

Obwohl er müde ist, arbeitet er noch. - Although he is tired, he is still working.

The result is two verbs side by side across the comma (bin, bleibe), which reads like a typing error to an English eye. It is the most reliable sign that someone has actually absorbed German word order, so it is worth practising until it sounds normal.

Group three: adverbs that take first place

deshalb (that is why), trotzdem (nevertheless), dann (then), also (so) and sonst (otherwise) look like conjunctions and are grammatically adverbs. That means they take up first position themselves, and the verb follows immediately:

Ich bin krank, deshalb bleibe ich zu Hause. - I am ill, so I am staying at home.

Ich bin müde, trotzdem arbeite ich noch. - I am tired, but I am still working anyway.

Compare deshalb bleibe ich with denn ich bin and weil ich krank bin. Three words that all glue a reason to a result, and three different verb positions. That is why sorting the words into groups is more useful than memorising their meanings.

Note too that also is a false friend. It means so or therefore, never also; for that German says auch.

wenn, als or ob

English when and if split across three German words, and the split is clean once you see it:

• als: one event or one period in the past. Als ich jung war, habe ich viel gespielt. (When I was young, I played a lot.)
• wenn: when in the present or future, whenever in the past, and if in a condition. Wenn du Zeit hast (if or when you have time).
• ob: if in the sense of whether, after verbs of asking and knowing. Er fragt, ob wir morgen arbeiten müssen. (He is asking whether we have to work tomorrow.)

The test for ob: if whether works in English, the German is ob, never wenn.

weil in real speech

A note from how Germans actually talk. In relaxed speech many people use weil with main-clause order, a pause after it, and the verb second: weil, ich bin krank. You will hear it everywhere. It is still marked as wrong in writing and in exams, so recognise it and do not copy it until you can do the standard version in your sleep.

Building a sentence, step by step

Take two plain main clauses and join them with weil:

Ich bleibe hier. + Ich bin krank.

1. Keep the first clause exactly as it is. Ich bleibe hier.
2. Add a comma and the conjunction. Ich bleibe hier, weil.
3. Write the second clause, but hold its conjugated verb back. ich krank.
4. Put the verb last. Ich bleibe hier, weil ich krank bin.

Now flip it so the weil clause comes first. The whole clause fills position one, so the main verb comes straight after the comma and the subject follows it: Weil ich krank bin, bleibe ich hier. Doing this by hand a dozen times with different conjunctions is dull, and it is also the quickest way to make the pattern automatic.

Mistakes English speakers make

Keeping English order after weil. weil ich bin krank is one of the commonest errors in written German from English speakers. After weil, the verb goes last: weil ich krank bin.

Treating denn like weil. denn ich krank bin puts the verb at the end after a word that does not ask for it. denn is group one: denn ich bin krank.

Forgetting the inversion after a subordinate clause. Weil ich krank bin, ich bleibe zu Hause follows English order in the second half. The verb comes straight after the comma: bleibe ich zu Hause.

Putting the modal in the middle. dass er muss gehen splits the verbs English-style. Both go to the end, the conjugated one last: dass er gehen muss.

Using wenn for one past event. Wenn ich jung war sounds as if you were young repeatedly. One past occasion takes als.

Using wenn for whether. Ich weiß nicht, wenn er kommt is simply wrong. For whether, the word is ob: Ich weiß nicht, ob er kommt. And if you meant when as a question (I do not know when he is coming), that is the question word wann: Ich weiß nicht, wann er kommt.

What to do next

Learn the five group-one words by heart, because that is the short list; everything outside it either sends the verb to the end or takes first place itself. Then drill one sentence until it feels natural in both directions: Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil ich krank bin and Weil ich krank bin, bleibe ich zu Hause. Once those two orders come without thinking, add dass and wenn, and every new conjunction after that is a new meaning rather than a new rule. All of these words are in the German course, and the same verb-last rule is what builds the German future in a clause like dass er kommen wird.