Sentence Structure

Remember how we said that in German you always have to wait until the very end of the sentence to be sure what the predicate (the verb and all its accompaniments) is? Well, in this chapter we have learned more forms that get postponed to that position and help postpone the completion of the verb!

Basically, the auxiliary forms (sein and haben for the present perfect, or the modal verbs) take the "second position" in the sentence, and the rest of the verb - past participle, infinitive, etc. - goes to the end of the sentence.

Word Order with the Perfect Tense

In English "composite tenses," the auxiliary have and the past participle of the main verb are hardly ever separated - at most by an adverb:

I have looked for the cat under the house already.
The mail has arrived at the house on time every day this week.

In German, they are hardly ever together, because in a main sentence the past participle is always at the very end of the sentence, whereas the auxiliary remains in the second position.

Gestern hat Kristina John eine Wohnung auf dem Lindenhof organisiert.
Am Montag habe ich John pünktlich den Computer in das Zimmer gestellt.

For an English speaker, that is most unusual. He has to wait until the end of the sentence in order to know what the main verb is! Well, the Germans are used to that and they like it that their sentences have the form of a great bracket: the subject at the beginning and the main verb at the end, and everything else in the middle. That way, sentences cannot run on as easily as in English.

Word Order with Modal Verbs

As in English, German modal auxiliaries are mostly followed by a verb infinitive which indicates the main action in the sentence, which we may consider the main verb. This verb often demands an object or there is an additional adverb or phrase indicating for example time or place.

The modal of course is in the second place - But where do you think German places the main verb? The infinitive following a modal is located at the very end of the sentence. The German mind just loves those thrilling sentences!

Again, in English we usually put the main verb right after the modal:

You can buy that book tomorrow.
I need to do my homework tonight.

Compare German:

Du kannst ihr morgen das Buch kaufen.
Ich muss heute abend meine Hausaufgaben machen.

Remember we said that separable prefixes are not separated in the infinitive. Therefore, what happens if you add a modal to the following sentence from our first dialogue?

Ulrike schenkt Andreas eine Tasse Kaffee ein.

You are right: schenken will be reunited with ein und both will be placed at the end of the sentence:

Ulrike will Andreas eine Tasse Kaffee einschenken.

Finally, when you use a modal in the perfect, the auxiliary form of haben takes the the second place, and the modal goes to the very end of the sentence as an infinitive:

Ich habe in Mannheim studieren wollen.
Ich habe meinen Freund besuchen dürfen.