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Main clause

Denn

Dependent Clause

Present tense

Ich fahre nach Deutschland

denn

ich besuche meine Eltern.

Sie liest viel

denn

sie hat viel Zeit.

Modal verbs

Sie lernt Spanisch

denn

sie möchte diese Woche nach Spanien fahren.

Wir verkaufen das Auto

denn

wir wollen ein neues haben.

Perfect

Er schläft jetzt

denn

er hat die ganze Nacht gearbeitet.

Sie ist vorbereitet

denn

sie hat für die Prüfung gelernt.

Check me!

I drive to Germany because I visit my parents.

She reads a lot because she has a lot of time.

She learns Spanish because she wants to drive this week to Spain.

We sell this house because we want to have a new one.

He’s sleeping now because he worked the whole night.

She is prepared because she studied for the exam.

See the translations:

Denn - Coordinate conjunction

weil/da

weil/dass

Dependent Clause

Present tense

Weil

meine Mutter krank ist,

mache ich das Frühstück.

Da

sie Deutsch spricht,

unterrichtet sie Deutsch.

Modal verbs

Weil

er Arzt werden will,

studiert er Medizin.

Da

ich Geld haben will,

arbeite ich viel.

Perfect

Weil

wir nach Deutschland gezogen sind,

verkaufen wir das Haus

Da

er die Lotterie gewonnen hat,

reist er die ganze Zeit.

Check me!

Because my mother is sick, I made breakfast.

Because she speaks German, she teaches German.

Because he wants to become a doctor, he studies medicine.

Because I want money, I work a lot.

Because we moved to Germany, we sell the house.

Because he won the lottery, he travels a lot.

See the translations:

Weil/ Da - First Clause

Main clause

weil/dass

Dependent Clause

Present tense

Ich mache das Frühstück

weil

meine Mutter krank ist.

Du weißt,

dass

sie Deutsch spricht.

Modal verbs

Er studiert Medizin,

weil

er Arzt werden will.

Sie denkt,

dass

ich Geld haben will.

Perfect

Wir verkaufen dieses Haus,

weil

wir nach Deutschland gezogen sind.

Sie sagen,

dass

er die Lotterie gewonnen hat.

Main Clause

Dass

Dependent Clause

Ich weiß,

dass

du den ganzen Tag gearbeitet hast.

Es ist gut

dass

er Sport gemacht hat.

I know that you must work

It's good that he's wants to be fit.

Dass + Perfect tense

✔️ In the perfect, at the dependent clause haben/sein are pushed to the end.

Main Clause

Dass

Dependent Clause

Ich weiß

dass

du arbeiten musst.

Es ist gut

dass

er fit sein will.

I know that you must work

It's good that he's wants to be fit.

Dass + MODAL VERBS

Main Clause

Dass

Dependent Clause

Ich weiß

dass

du arbeitest.

Es ist gut

dass

er Sport macht.

I know that you are working.

It's good that he's doing sport.

Learn this structure to understand the structure of the clauses. Keep in mind that “dass” is pushy, so it pushes the verb to the end.

Mrs. Puddles

Have you noticed?

✔️ Translation: “that”

✔️ It is a pushy conjunction: it pushes the verb to the end of the sentence

B. In German “dass” is a subordinate (pushy) conjunction

Dass- Only in the second clause

Denn + MODAL VERBS

✔️In the main clause, the modal verb comes first and the verb is the end

Main Clause

denn

Dependent Clause

Ich gehe ins Büro,

denn

ich muss arbeiten.

Er macht Sport,

denn

er will fit sein.

I go to the cinema because I have free time.

He does sport because he is an athlete.

Denn - it connects two man clauses

As we already explained, Denn is not pushy. See how it connected the two sentences, 'habe' and ' ist' remaining on theyr position?

Mrs. Puddles

Have you noticed?

Main Clause

denn

Dependent Clause

Ich gehe ins Kino,

denn

ich habe Freizeit.

Er macht Sport,

denn

er ist ein Sportler.

I go to the cinema because I have free time.

He does sport because he is an athlete.

Learn this structure to understand the base of the clauses by using “denn”. Keep in mind that “denn” isn’t pushy, because it connects the two main clauses.

Mrs. Puddles gives a tip!

Denn

✔️ Translation: because

✔️ Is a coordinate conjunction

✔️ coordinate conjunctions aren’t “pushy”

✔️ denn doesn’t change the structure because it connects two main clauses

When to use " Denn "

✔️ Denn and weil are interchangeable

✔️ Only weil/da can stay in first clause, while “denn” only stays in the second clause

Da

Dependent clause

Main clause

Da

ich arbeiten muss,

gehe ich ins Büro.

Da

er fit sein will,

macht er Sport.

*In English “because” isn’t positioned like this, whereas in Germ is acceptable:

Because I must work, i go to the office

Because he wants to be fit, he is doing sport.

DA - Only first clause (Used formally)

✔️ Just replace weil - first clause with “da” at the same examples:

WEIL + MODAL VERBS - First clause

✔️ everything stays the same for weil + dependent clause (infinitive verb - modal verb)

✔️ only at the main clause, the verb comes first: VERB -SUBJECT

What’s a clause? A clause it’s a grammar label for “sentence”. First clause or second clause represent the order of the Main Clause (the sentence which isn’t changed by the pushy words) and the Dependent Clause (the changed sentence). Only in German this order is changed: the main clause is usually first (sentence/clause) and the dependent clause is second, but they can change the place. So, when the sentence starts with weil/dass/da we say “The dependent clause is first (clause” and “the main clause is second “clause”

Mrs. Puddles gives a tip!

Da

Dependent clause

Main clause

Da

ich Freizeit habe,

gehe ich ins Kino.

Da

er ein Sportler ist,

macht er Sport.

*In English “because” isn’t positioned like this, whereas in Germ is acceptable:

Because I must work, i go to the office

Because he wants to be fit, he is doing sport.

Weil

Dependent clause

Main clause

Weil

ich arbeiten muss,

gehe ich ins Büro.

Weil

er fit sein will,

macht er Sport.

*In English “because” isn’t positioned like this, whereas in Germ is acceptable:

Because I must work, i go to the office

Because he wants to be fit, he is doing sport.

Weil

Dependent clause

Main clause

Weil

ich Freizeit habe,

gehe ich ins Kino.

Weil

er ein Sportler ist,

macht er Sport.

*In English “because” isn’t positioned like this, whereas in Germ is acceptable:

Because I have free time, I go to the cinema.

Because he’s an athlete, he does sport.

WEIL - First clause

✔️ everything stays the same for weil + dependent clause

✔️ only in the main clause, the verb comes first: VERB -SUBJECT

Main Clause

Weil

Dependent Clause

Ich gehe nach Hause,

weil

ich den ganzen Tag gearbeitet habe.

Er ist fit,

weil

er Sport gemacht hat.

I go home because I worked the whole day.

He is fit because he does sport.

Main Clause

Weil

Dependent Clause

Ich gehe ins Büro,

weil

ich arbeiten muss.

Er macht Sport,

weil

er fit sein will.

I go to the office because I must work.

He does sport because he wants to be fit.

WEIL + Perfect tense

✔️ In the perfect, at the dependent clause haben/sein are pushed to the end.

WEIL + MODAL VERBS - second clause

Main Clause

Weil

Dependent Clause

Ich gehe ins Kino,

weil

ich Freizeit habe.

Er macht Sport,

weil

er ein Sportler ist.

*habe & ist are pushed verbs here!

I go to the cinema because I have free time.

He does sport because he is an athlete.

WEIL - second clause (present)

Before weil and dass, always there’s a comma

Mrs. Puddles gives a tip!

Learn this structure to understand the structure of the clauses. Keep in mind that “weil, da” are pushy, so they push the verb to the end.

Mrs. Puddles gives a tip!

I. Theory and definitions: Conjunctions Weil, Denn, Da & Dass in German

Conjunctions Weil, Denn, Da & Dass German

Check me!

I make the breakfast because my mother is sick

You know that she speaks German

He studies medicine because he wants to become a doctor

She thinks that I want money.

We sell this house because we moved to Germany.

They say that he won the lottery.

In grammar “because” “ and that” are conjunctions, it means that they connect two sentences.

Mrs. Puddles gives a tip!

See the translations:

Pushy/ subordinate conjunctions

✔️ Practical examples. After you break-down the sentences and understand better how it works, learn the structures in a comparative manner:

V. Let's practice! - Conjunctions Weil, Denn, Da & Dass

Mr. Puddle: Try solving a lot of exercises and get more practice. Also, did you notice that after weil and dass always there’s a pronoun or the subject? You can exercise by making combinations of “weil” / “dass” + pronouns and nouns/adjectives/time “Weil ich einen Hund” “dass sie dieses Jahr” without verbs, and then add verbs to the word sequences.

Mr. Puddle: Not quite, you already knew “und” (and)

Ms. Purrplexed: That’s a useful tip! Danke!

Ms. Purrplexed : Yes, but it’s so different and challenging to understand the word order using weil and dass… I always forget to put the verbs, modals, or auxiliary verbs (haben, sein) at the end of the sentence and everythings is mixed up..

Ms. Purrplexed: Mr. Puddles! These are my first conjunctions.. i don't know how to learn them!

IV. Purrrfection explained! - Conjunctions Weil, Denn, Da & Dass

✔️Learn the structure in a comparative manner: dass and weil are pushy, so they push the verb to the end while denn isn’t pushy at all and connects two main clauses

✔️Don’t forget to put a comma before weil and dass

✔️Learn the structure which include modals and the perfect tense (they are very used in the spoken and the written language)

✔️“da” is less used in informal contexts, some people don’t use it at all but you can encounter this conjunction in magazines, textbooks or speeches

III. Tips & Tricks : How to learn them easily? - Conjunctions Weil, Denn, Da & Dass

II. Practical examples - Conjunctions Weil, Denn, Da & Dass

We all use “because” in English, when we want to express causality in the relationship between two events: “I didn’t go to school today because I was sick”.

“That” is often used as a conjunction in English: “She didn’t know that he won the lottery”.

Today Mrs. Purrplexed is learning how to say “because” and “that” in German. Let’s start!

A.In German there are three words with the same meaning of “because”:

✔️ Weil

✔️ Denn

✔️ Da

What’s the difference?

Weil, Da:

✔️Translation: because

✔️Are subordinating conjunctions

✔️We call them “pushy words”: they push the verb of the second sentence (DC) to the end

✔️Subordinate conjunctions connect a Main Clause (MC) and a Dependent Clause DC)

✔️They change the structure of the second sentence: Dependent Clause (because they push the verb at the end”

When and where to use “weil” and “da”:

✔️ Weil can be used when talking casually. It can be positioned either in the first or in the second clause (sentence)

✔️ Da is used to talk formally. It is positioned in the first clause.

Cats are lovely and may prove to be a good company for you while learning or struggling with German.

Here's the perfect place for animal lovers and German learners!

2020, L2D

Fill in the Blank Quiz

Johan ist ein guter Medizinstudent. Er weiß er für seine Zukunft lernen muss. Er studiert Medizin

. er will helfen Menschen. Er sagt: "Meine Oma ist Ärztin. Sie hat mir erzählt, will helfen Menschen. Er sagt: "Meine Oma ist Ärztin. Sie hat mir erzählt,

sie vielen Menschen geholfen hat. Sie ist glücklich,

. diese Menschen sie besuchen und sie ihnen immer noch helfen kann. Ich wollte Medizin studieren

ich auch kann Leben retten ." Seine Eltern sind sehr stolz, seine Mutter sagt: "Ich wusste,

er Arzt werden wird.

er ein gutes Kind war, wollte er viele Katzen retten. Eines Tages sagte er mir

er Menschen retten wollte." Medizin ist schwer,

man viel über den Körper wissen muss. Aber Johan studiert die ganze Zeit

er will ein guter Arzt werden

▶ See the translation of the text

Johan is a good medicine student. He knows that he must study for his future. He studies medicine because he wants to help people. He says: "My grandma is a doctor. She told me that she helped a lot of people. She is happy because these people visit her and she still can help them. I wanted to study medicine because I can also save lives." His parents are very proud, his mom says "I knew ( that ) he would be a doctor. Because he was a good kid, he wanted to save a lot of cats. One day, he told me that he wanted to save people." Medicine is hard because one must know a lot about the body. But Johan studies all the time because he wants to become a good doctor.