I can say on what condition and in what situation I do something: Wenn ich Zeit habe, gehe ich ins Kino — and get the word order right when the clause comes first.
Wenn: “if” and “whenever”
Wenn: “if” and “whenever”
The conjunction wenn does two jobs: it names a condition (“if I have time”) and a situation that happens again and again (“whenever I go shopping”). English says “if” or “whenever”; German says wenn for both. The context tells them apart, and the word immer says plainly that it happens every time.
You know the form already: after wenn, the conjugated verb goes to the end, and there's a comma before wenn.
New in this lesson: the clause can come first. Then it takes position 1 as a whole, so the verb of the main clause stays in position 2, right after the comma, with the subject after it: verb, comma, verb — unlike English “If I have time, I go”. There's an example in the second table.
You can put dann between the comma and the verb; the rule stays the same. The same works with any clause, including one with weil — the last row of the table.
One limit: English “when” for one event in the past (“when I was a child”) is a different German conjunction, which comes later. Otherwise English “when” is wenn: Ich koche, wenn ich zu Hause bin. The question word wann never starts such a clause.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Wenn ich Zeit habe, ich gehe ins Kino” — the verb comes right after the comma.
• NOT “Wenn ich habe Zeit, gehe ich ins Kino” — in the clause, the verb goes to the end.
• NOT “Wenn ich Zeit habe, dann ich gehe ins Kino” — dann doesn't change the rule.
Two meanings of wenn
It's the same conjunction; the word immer shows that it happens every time.
| Condition: “if” | Every time: “whenever” |
|---|---|
| Wenn das Hemd billig ist, kaufe ich es. | Immer wenn Marie kocht, essen wir zu Hause. |
| Wenn ich krank bin, arbeite ich nicht. | Immer wenn Jonas Geld hat, kauft er Bücher. |
The clause first: where the verb goes
The clause takes position 1, so the verb comes right after the comma.
| Order | Sentence |
|---|---|
| the clause second | Ich gehe ins Kino, wenn ich Zeit habe. |
| the clause first: the verb right after the comma, the subject after it | Wenn ich Zeit habe, gehe ich ins Kino. |
| with dann, the rule doesn't change | Wenn ich Zeit habe, dann gehe ich ins Kino. |
| the same with weil | Weil der Bus nicht kommt, gehe ich zu Fuß. |
Lesson notes
Wenn: “if” and “whenever”
The conjunction wenn does two jobs: it names a condition (“if I have time”) and a situation that happens again and again (“whenever I go shopping”). English says “if” or “whenever”; German says wenn for both. The context tells them apart, and the word immer says plainly that it happens every time.
You know the form already: after wenn, the conjugated verb goes to the end, and there's a comma before wenn.
New in this lesson: the clause can come first. Then it takes position 1 as a whole, so the verb of the main clause stays in position 2, right after the comma, with the subject after it: verb, comma, verb — unlike English “If I have time, I go”. There's an example in the second table.
You can put dann between the comma and the verb; the rule stays the same. The same works with any clause, including one with weil — the last row of the table.
One limit: English “when” for one event in the past (“when I was a child”) is a different German conjunction, which comes later. Otherwise English “when” is wenn: Ich koche, wenn ich zu Hause bin. The question word wann never starts such a clause.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Wenn ich Zeit habe, ich gehe ins Kino” — the verb comes right after the comma.
• NOT “Wenn ich habe Zeit, gehe ich ins Kino” — in the clause, the verb goes to the end.
• NOT “Wenn ich Zeit habe, dann ich gehe ins Kino” — dann doesn't change the rule.