Distinguishing Hauptsatz and Nebensatz

In German, there are two types of clauses most commonly used: Hauptsatz and Nebensatz, also known as the main clause and the subordinate clause.

VD: Heute gehe ich nicht zur Schule, weil ich krank bin.

                        ***Hauptsatz***                           ***Nebensatz***

So how do we distinguish between the main clause and the subordinate clause? The article below will answer this question for you.

1. Hauptsatz (Main clause)

The main clause is a complete sentence with a subject, predicate, and object, and can therefore stand on its own. Notably, the verb in the main clause usually occupies the second position; in certain cases such as Ja/ Nein questions and imperative sentences, the verb will be in the first position.

VD1: Meine Familie fährt im nächsten Urlaub nach Hawaii.

VD2: Gib mir meine Tasche. (Imperative sentence)

VD3: Warst du gestern auf der Party? (Ja/ Nein Fragen)

1. Nebensatz (Subordinate clause):

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The subordinate clause must accompany the main clause, and the two clauses are separated by a „" mark. The subordinate clause is used to modify the main clause. Notably, the verb in the subordinate clause always appears at the end of the sentence.

VD1: Ich mache mir Sorgen, ob er zu spät zum Treffen kommt. (I am worried about whether he will be late to the meeting.)

→ In the example above, the subordinate clause that follows is used to modify the main clause. The main clause and the subordinate clause are separated by the Konjunktion (conjunction) ob.

VD2: Wenn du diese Prüfung passen wollst, sollst du fleißiger lernen. (If you want to pass this exam, you need to study harder.)→ In the sentence above, the main clause and the subordinate clause have swapped positions; when the main clause comes after the subordinate clause, the verb in the main clause will stand in position 1. The two clauses are separated by a "," and the word Wenn here carries the nature of a conditional sentence.

To form a sentence that includes both a Hauptsatz and a Nebensatz, it depends on many factors, such as cause-and-effect relationships and Konjunktion (dass, weil, nachdem, obwwohl,...).

VD: Ich mag Hannah sehr, weil sie sehr nettt ist. (I like Hannah very much because she is very kind.)

→ The sentence above is a cause-and-effect sentence and uses the conjunction weil.

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