Coordinating Conjunctions in Position 0

Aber, denn, oder, sondern, und take the position Zero in the compound sentence.

The most common and the simplest conjunction is und (and).

Und is so simple because

1. it does not establish a specific relationship between the two connected statements in the sentence 
2. it does not affect the word order in the sentence following und. Grammarians say that und occupies the Zero Position between two sentences. Position Zero means that a word in this position does not affect the word order in the following sentence--it does not form part of either sentence.

Remember,  we said before that the verb is always in the "second position":

Position 1	Position 2	Position 3	Position 4
Subject	Verb	Direct Object	Adverbs, etc.

Observe in the sentences below how each clause keeps to its normal order, with the verb in second position (even if the subject moves). Und is separate and takes no position in either clause.

Independent Clause 1	Conjunction (Position 0)	Independent Clause 2
Ich gehe ins Kino,	und	du bleibst zu hause.
Du bleibst zu hause,	und	ich gehe ins Kino.
Heute gehe ich ins Kino,	und	morgen gehst du.

"Understood" Words

If two or more sentences joined by und have the same subject one usually omits the subject after the first clause in order to avoid repetition. The subject is "understood" to be the same as in the first.

In fact, in the following sentence you can omit ALL repetitions, of subject, verb, etc., leaving only the word or words that change. However, the words that remain have the same forms as they would in the complete sentence.

Also, if there are more than two clauses, the und is needed only before the last; the others are separated by commas in a series, as in English.

You can think of this as simply a joining of different subjects, verbs, or objects by the conjunction, but it is helpful to remember that the words being joined "understand" the rest of the clause. This feature is somewhat lost in English, but the grammatical systems of the German language are more robust. Still, in English we should be able to see the difference between:

(Assuming all parties are heterosexual, which of these two sentences is spoken by a woman and which by a man?)

Coordinating Conjunctions - {denn, oder, sondern, aber}

The coordinating conjunctions denn, oder, sondern, aber function like und.

Denn (because, since) is called a causal conjunction, because the sentence preceded by denn contains the explanation or the cause of what is said in the first sentence. Examples:

Oder (or) joins alternative sentences (or parts of sentences).

Sondern (but, rather) is used if the second sentence corrects a negative statement made in the first sentence.

Aber (but) joins two sentences whose statements contradict or at least restrict one another.

As far as its position is concerned aber is more versatile than the coordinating conjunctions above. It is always correct to place aber in Position Zero, but one may also move it along into the second sentence, to emphasize the contrast being made (do a/do b, here/not here, you/he):

	Pos. 0	Pos. 1	Pos. 2	Pos. 3
Du kannst hier lesen,	aber	du	kannst	hier	nicht fernsehen
Du kannst hier lesen,		du	kannst	hier	aber nicht fernsehen
Du kannst hier lesen,		du	kannst	aber hier	nicht fernsehen
Du kannst hier bleiben,		er aber	muss	ausziehen.

Notice that the aber does not change the word order; it slips into the second sentence in a kind of invisible position!

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