by Lea Hauke
Updated on October 15, 2024
German conjunctions explained: Connecting German sentences
Are you sick of talking like a German robot? German conjunctions can add color and texture to the way you talk and write, and help you say more than simply, “Ich spreche Deutsch. Deutsche Grammatik ist sehr schwer.” (“I speak German. German grammar is very difficult.”). By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to connect those two sentences with each other — and do a lot more, for that matter.
So, don’t despair! Instead, follow us into the realm of German conjunctions. We’ll not only review why we need them, but also how to use them in everyday conversation.
Without conjunctions, a lot of sentences would sound pretty dull.
You use conjunctions to connect two sentences, phrases or clauses and make them more understandable. Some common German conjunctions include sondern, wenn, als, weil, und and oder.
Let’s look at an example to illustrate how conjunctions work:
Good news for everyone aspiring to learn German: conjunctions can’t be inflected, which means they do not adapt to genus, numbers or cases. So, that’s one less thing you have to worry about!
| German conjunction | English meaning |
| und | and |
| oder | or |
| aber | but |
| denn | for/because |
| weil | because |
| obwohl | although |
| wenn | when/if |
| als | when/as |
| nachdem | after |
| bevor | before |
| solange | as long as |
| damit | so that |
| falls | in case/if |
| während | while/during |
| seit | since |
| bis | until |
| da | since/because/therefore (depending on the context) |
| entweder…oder | either…or |
| weder…noch | neither…nor |
Coordinating conjunctions are often used to connect two main clauses (Hauptsätze) with each other. Less frequently, they are used to connect two subordinate clauses.
The sentence’s structure does not change in any way when using this type of conjunction. The conjunction simply “coordinates” the different parts of the sentence with each other.
Here’s an example of a coordinating conjunction (und) connecting two main clauses:
As the subject (ich) is the same in both clauses, you don’t have to repeat it in the second half of the sentence when using a coordinating conjunction. The same goes for identical verbs in both sentences.
You could either say:
Or you could leave the second ich bin out of the second part of the sentence:
You can also use coordinating conjunctions to connect two subordinate clauses:
Subordinating conjunctions connect a main clause (Hauptsatz) with a subordinate clause (Nebensatz).
Subordinate clauses almost always begin with a subordinating conjunction. This is also the case when the subordinate clause precedes the main clause. Regardless of the order in which the subordinate clause and main clause appear, they are always separated by a comma.
Since the subordinate clause is introduced with a subordinating conjunction, the conjunction always precedes the clause itself. In contrast to coordinating conjunctions, the sentence structure changes with subordinating conjunctions to conjunction + subject + rest of clause+ verb.
Here’s an example:
German grammar can be quite confusing, thanks to its many exceptions. Conjunctions and how to use them is a topic that can be a challenge for even advanced learners and native speakers.
Many learners especially struggle with the difference between the subordinating conjunction dass and the relative pronoun das, the latter of which is used to introduce relative clauses in a sentence.
Relative pronouns like der, die and das are used to describe persons, animals and things. For example:
Dass, on the other hand, is a subordinating conjunction. It can be used like this:
Even though the topic of German conjunction might seem complicated at first, you will find that they help you build useful German sentences. Conjunctions like und, oder, falls and wenn make the way we talk and write more lively and understandable. While coordinating conjunctions mainly connect main clauses with each other and don’t interfere with their sentence structure, subordinating conjunctions can change the structure of the clause they precede.
