German verb order?

Question

Who can explain the positioning of German verbs? I don't understand why they are at the beggining of a sentance, and at the end of the sentance. Feel free to add any other information about verbs and syntax.

Thanks

Answer 1

There are no "why"s in grammar, so I hope that's not really what you're asking. Here's what I know about the "how".

For a statement with only one verb, the verb comes second. This can be after a pronoun or noun, so it's really the second word:
Ich heisse Allison. Camille ist da.
Or after a subject that takes more than one word:
Meine Tochter heisst Camille.
Or after an adverb or adverbial phrase:
Jetzt sprechen wir Deutsch. Am Montag gehe ich zum Zoo.
Or occasionally after the object:
Meinen Mann liebe ich.

If there are a helping verb and another verb, the helping verb comes second, conjugated, (after any of the above types of words/phrases) and the other verbs (infinitive or past participle) come last.

Ich habe die Prüfung gemacht.
Ich werde heute abend fernsehen.


For a question, the conjugated verb comes first and the rest of the sentence follows in the usual order:

Sprechen Sie Englisch?
Hast du die Prüfung gemacht?

In a subordinate clause (Nebensatz), the verb(s) are all at the end, with the conjugated one last of all. If the Nebensatz comes at the beginning of the sentence as a whole, that makes it the "first thing" and then the main clause verb comes next. Otherwise, it can come at the end or somewhere in the middle.

Ich studiere Deutsch, weil ich in der Schweiz wohne.
Weil ich in der Schweiz wohne, studiere ich Deutsch.

Answer 2

In a important clause: [some thing] important VERB [something] INFINITIVE. In a subordinate clause [some thing] INIFINITIVE then important VERB. Ich will den Turm sehen, weil mir hohen Gebäuden gefällen. (i prefer to verify the tower, because of the fact i like tall homes.)

Answer 3

Look at this sight and I think that it will be very helpful. German word order is actually very simliar to English word order so it really isn't all that complicated. I hope this helps!