133. Word Order in a Main Clause (II)

133.   Word Order in a Main Clause  (II)

'SVPANAPPI'  was the mnemonic we saw in the last post that is a guide to German word order. If you apply it in a main clause, the word order will be right about 98% of the time. Not all parts of the clause will occur at the same time, so all you do is insert each item in the order it occurs in the sentence. Another hint .... a main clause makes sense on its own. There may be several main clauses in a sentence and a subordinate clause or even more to boot. We will look at these a little later. For now, let's revise each item. Sometimes I find students struggle to identify what part of speech we are dealing with so I shall try to give you a few examples. 

S = Subject = provider of action, can be a Noun or Pronoun & in the Nominative Case

V = Verb (Finite) - action word of clause

P = Pronoun Object - replaces noun - action happens to it

A = Adverbs - one word or phrase - Time(T) Manner (M) Place (P) in that order

N = Noun Object - action happens to it

A = Adjective - describes a noun or pronoun

PP = Past Participle - part of verb used with has, have, had in past tense 

I = Infinitive - used with (to), with modals & future tense. 

1  Der Mann hat keine Geschwister. (brothers & sisters)

2  Meine Frau kommt morgen(T) nach Hause (P)

3  Sie will mit einer Freundin (M) fliegen.

4  Die Dame ist sehr elegant.

5  Ich habe mein Buch gefunden.

6  Ich habe es neben (next to) der Lampe gefunden.

* GOLDEN RULE OF GERMAN WORD ORDER - The Verb MUST come 2nd idea *

Any part of speech can come FIRST for emphasis but the VERB must follow ..

e.g.  Mein Buch  habe  ich  neben der Lampe  gefunden.

        Morgen kommt meine Frau nach Hause.

        Kommt sie allein nach Hause? Nein, mit einer Freundin will sie fliegen.

** In this last sentence REMEMBER that to make a question, the verb goes first.

Tourist 'buses' in Rhine Village