German word order: the verb in second position.

The verb in second position

In a standard statement, the subject stands in position 1 and the conjugated verb stands directly in position 2. Position 1 can be a single pronoun or a full name.

• Ich wohne in Wien.I live in Vienna.
• Anna kommt aus Kiew.Anna comes from Kyiv.

Starting with time or place

When a time word like heute or a place like hier takes position 1, the conjugated verb stays strictly in position 2. The subject then moves right behind the verb.

• Heute arbeitet Tom gern.Tom likes working today.
• Hier sind wir.Here we are.

Word order in questions

In a question with a question word, the question word takes position 1 and the verb takes position 2. In a yes-no question, the verb itself moves to position 1.

• Woher kommst du?Where do you come from?
• Wohnst du in Berlin?Do you live in Berlin?

Connecting sentences with und, aber, oder

The connecting words und, aber, and oder occupy position zero between two clauses. The sentence that follows starts counting positions from 1 again.

• Ich komme aus Kiew, und jetzt wohne ich in Wien.I come from Kyiv, and now I live in Vienna.
• Tom arbeitet heute, aber er kommt gern.Tom works today, but he likes to come.

Exceptions to remember

• Position 1 can consist of multiple words acting as a single unit, such as In Wien. In Wien wohnt Herr Weber.
• Do not push the verb to position 3 when starting with time or place. Jetzt lerne ich Deutsch.

Practice it in the course

This rule is chapter 8 of 31 in the A1 German course in Langvie, after German verbs with a vowel change and before German nouns: der, die, das and compound nouns. In the app the chapter goes on with 8 exercises and a short spoken conversation with an AI partner, which opens with Heute bin ich frei. Und du, arbeitest du heute?

Choose the correct conjugated verb. Heute ___ ich in Berlin. (wohne / ich wohne / wohnen)

wohne. The verb takes position 2 right after the time word. Today I live in Berlin.

Every A1 chapter, in course order