Subordinating Conjunctions 2
Finally, in this chapter we will learn to create subordinate clauses using subordinating conjunctions! You are probably already comfortable understanding some of these constructions in your reading, and even when you hear them, though the conjunctions themselves mostly don't resemble their English counterparts.
Note that in English as in German, coordinating conjunctions can only introduce the second clause of two, but never the first: and, but, therefore, thus, nevertheless, even so, etc. always imply a preceding clause which sets the condition. But clauses introduced by subordinating conjunctions can go either before or after the main clause, without changing the meaning of the whole: when, because, before, although, even though.
When do you use a subordinating conjunction? Many sentences using coordinating conjunctions can express the same idea as the complex sentences that use subordinating conjunctions. Compare the following pairs of sentences:
Coordinating Conjunctions:
- Er trinkt Kaffee und liest (dabei) die Zeitung.
- Er macht sich Kaffee, danach liest er die Zeitung.
- Er liest morgens die Zeitung, aber davor macht er sich erst seinen Kaffee.
- Gestern hat es den ganzen Tag stark geregnet, also konnten wir nicht spazierengehen.
Subordinating Conjunctions:
- Während er Kaffee trinkt, liest er die Zeitung.
- Er liest die Zeitung, nachdem er sich Kaffee gemacht hat.
- Bevor er morgens die Zeitung liest, machte er sich erst seinen Kaffee.
- Gestern hat es den ganzen Tag stark geregnet, so dass wir nicht spazierengehen konnten.
There are no rules telling you when to use the coordinating conjunctions and when to make a subordinate clause. It's a matter of style! You can see that the subordinating conjunctions give you more flexibility, since the "main clause" can come first or last. There is also a lot more opportunity for logical or temporal precision in a subordinating conjunction.
We learned earlier about the classification of adverbial specifications (time, reason, manner, place) and then of coordinating conjunctions: temporal (time), causal, consecutive (the action of one clause follows the other), concessive (one clause contradicts the other). The system for classifying subordinating conjuctions is even more nuanced:
| Temporal | Causal/ Consecutive/ Concessive | Modal/ Instrumental | Conditional | Misc. |
| als | da | als | außer wenn |
ob |
| bevor ehe |
obwohl obgleich obschon |
dadurch, dass | falls | als ob |
| nachdem | so dass so, dass |
damit | im Falle, dass | |
| seit(dem) | so doch | indem | sofern | |
| sobald | trotzdem | soviel soweit |
wenn | |
| solange | weil | wie so, wie |
||
| sooft | wenn auch | |||
| während | zumal | |||
| wenn |
Note: the comma in the two-word conjunctions means that the first word goes in the main clause, while the second goes in the subordinate clause.