German Syntax Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

German Syntax - Essay Example2.0 Word Order2.0 Word Order German is considered an SVO language (Fagan 146), which means that the be word order is Subject-Verb-Object in a phrase. 1) Seine Mutter trinkt Whisky. subj-his mother verb-drink obj-whisky His mother drinks whisky. (Collins 175)Sentence 1 demonstrates the most communal word order in German it is a declarative sentence and has only one important clause (Weyerts et al. 216). So the verb is in second position in a sentence that is complete and lowlife stand alone in other words in an independent clause. Weyerts et al. claim that it is always a finite verb or auxiliary that appears in second position, and it only appears there in main clauses (216).Double clause sentences are constructed in a similar way. If two independent or main clauses are conjugated with a conjunction, the word order remains as SVO in both clauses. Sentence 2 is an font of two independent clauses joined with a conjunction. 2) Wir w ollten ins Kino, aber wir hattensubj-we verb-wanted indir. obj- to cinema conj-but subj-we verb-hadkein Gelddirect obj-no money