GCSE German: Word order with subordinating conjunctions

I am so excited for today, because we are going to a concert hall.

Although it may be in German, I'm excited to discover something new!

I think I found the perfect sentence structure to teach you for today's vlog.

Huh?

Word order with subordinating conjunctions.

What does that mean?

Basically, sentences that use 'weil' and 'obwohl', because and although, along with an array of other words.

But were mainly focused on 'weil', for today's example.

Oh, okay.

So how do we construct a sentence with those?

So, there are two types of sentences we can construct, and it depends on if the sentence starts with a subordinating conjunction or has one mid-sentence.

Let's look at the first sentence structure, where the subordinating conjunction is mid-sentence.

This could be when we would be using 'weil'.

All right, what's our example?

Let's make two sentences first and then showcase what happens.

For example 'Wir gehen zum Konzert' and 'Wir mögen Musik'.

That's our itinerary right there.

Now see what happens when we introduce 'weil'.

'Wir gehen zum Konzert, weil wir Musik mögen.'

Notice what's different?

Uh. You've added the word 'weil' to the sentence.

Yeah, that's true.

But on top of that, the verb in the second sentence went to the end, as well as there being a comma before 'weil'.

Wow. 'Wir gehen zum Konzert, weil wir Musik mögen.'

Oh yeah, that verb is at the end!

And what about the rule of the second kind, where the ´weil´ is in the beginning of the sentence?

Yeah.

When you want to start a sentence using one, see what happens to the verb placement.

We'll use our 'weil' example again but jump into the other ones once we're at a location.

Nice.

So previously we had: 'Wir gehen zum Konzert, weil wir Musik mögen.'

Now we'll have: 'Weil wir Musik mögen, gehen wir zum Konzert.'

Whoa!

Mind blown!

This is some German language for you.

But as you can see, the 'gehen' has been moved, and for those sentences the second part of the sentence after the comma always starts with that verb of the second part.

You can remember this by thinking verb comma verb.

Very cool!

Let's get out there and practise some phrases.

So I'm thinking we do a recap vlog after the concert, because timings would be too tight before, and who vlogs during a concert?

Sounds like a plan.

That means you'll be using the past tense, but that's not to worry, as the same rules apply regardless of the tense.

Oh, good to know.

You reckon you could give us an example of 'obwohl' now, Heidi?

I mean, the rules don't change anyways, so you're welcome to try one for yourself.

Try saying we got tickets, even though the concert was sold out.

Okay. Hmm…

'Wir haben Karten bekommen…'

Nice.

'…obwohl das Konzert war ausverkauft.'

Knapp, knapp.

The first part was good, but remember to move that verb at the end of the second part.

And also when writing, add a comma after the verb in the first part.

Your viewers will see it on screen!

Okay, okay.

So we have: 'Wir haben Karten bekommen, obwohl das Konzert ausverkauft war.'

Genau!

'Wir haben Karten bekommen, obwohl das Konzert ausverkauft war.'

Lucky us!

And can I try a sentence where we have 'obwohl' at the start?

Ja, sehr gerne!

'Obwohl das Konzert ausverkauft war, haben wir Karten bekommen.'

Brilliant!

Brilliant!

Now let's go make use of those tickets and we'll see each other on the other side!

Hallo! Hi!

Heute waren wir im Konzert, weil wir Musik mögen.

Obwohl das Konzert ausverkauft war, haben wir Karten bekommen.

Weil wir neue Lieder entdecken wollten, haben wir deutsche Musik gehört.

Es gab viele moderne Lieder, obwohl es klassische Musik war.

Bis zum nächsten Mal!