The TeKaMoLo Rule in German

The TeKaMoLo rule gives you a typical order for several adverbial phrases in a German sentence: Temporal – Kausal – Modal – Lokal. It is not an absolute law, but a strong tendency in standard German, especially in longer sentences.

Overview: What belongs to TeKaMoLo?

Adverbial phrases (Adverbialbestimmungen) answer questions like “Wann?”, “Warum?”, “Wie?” and “Wo?”. In neutral main clauses they usually appear in the order Te–Ka–Mo–Lo.

Basic pattern in main clauses

A simple main clause pattern (without subordinate clauses) looks like this:

Subjekt – (Verb 1) – Te – Ka – Mo – Lo – (Verb 2)

Examples:

1. Ich fahre morgen wegen eines Termins mit dem Zug nach Hamburg.
   (Te: „morgen“ – Ka: „wegen eines Termins“ – Mo: „mit dem Zug“ – Lo: „nach Hamburg“)
   Translation: I am going to Hamburg by train tomorrow because of an appointment.

2. Wir bleiben heute wegen des schlechten Wetters lieber zu Hause.
   (Te: „heute“ – Ka: „wegen des schlechten Wetters“ – Mo: „lieber“ – Lo: „zu Hause“)
   Translation: We prefer to stay at home today because of the bad weather.

3. Sie hat neulich aus gesundheitlichen Gründen sehr langsam im Büro gearbeitet.
   (Te: „neulich“ – Ka: „aus gesundheitlichen Gründen“ – Mo: „sehr langsam“ – Lo: „im Büro“)
   Translation: She recently worked very slowly in the office for health reasons.

TeKaMoLo makes long sentences clearer and more natural.

Typical mistakes and corrections

Common mistake

• ❌ Ich fahre mit dem Zug nach Hamburg morgen wegen eines Termins.
• ✅ Ich fahre morgen wegen eines Termins mit dem Zug nach Hamburg.
  Translation: I am going to Hamburg by train tomorrow because of an appointment.

The second version follows TeKaMoLo and sounds much more idiomatic.

Emphasis and variations

German allows you to change the order for emphasis, but the “inner” order often still respects TeKaMoLo:

• Wegen des schlechten Wetters bleiben wir heute zu Hause.
  Translation: Because of the bad weather, we are staying at home today.
  (Ka at the beginning; strong focus on the cause.)

• Nach Hamburg fahre ich morgen wegen eines Termins mit dem Zug.
  Translation: It is Hamburg that I am going to by train tomorrow because of an appointment.

Even here, inside the clause after the first position, you still see Te – Ka – Mo – Lo.

TeKaMoLo in subordinate clauses

In subordinate clauses with weil, obwohl, dass etc., the finite verb goes to the end, but the order of adverbial phrases stays similar:

• … weil ich morgen wegen eines wichtigen Projekts mit dem Auto ins Büro fahren muss.
  Translation: … because tomorrow I have to drive to the office by car because of an important project.

• … obwohl sie gestern aus persönlichen Gründen sehr lange im Labor geblieben ist.
  Translation: … although yesterday she stayed very long in the lab for personal reasons.

TeKaMoLo helps you structure even complex subordinate clauses.

Practical tips

• Use TeKaMoLo especially when you have three or more adverbial elements.
• With only one or two elements, the rule is more flexible, but TeKaMoLo is still a safe default.
• Practise by writing your own sentences: first note down all answers to Wann? Warum? Wie? Wo?, then place them according to TeKaMoLo.

summaryEn: After this lesson you can place several adverbial phrases in German sentences in the typical TeKaMoLo order and consciously change it for emphasis when needed.