Coordinating Conjunctions in German: und, oder, aber, denn and MORE!
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Conjunction junction, what’s your function?
Hookin’ up words and phrases and clauses.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
This song is a classic and it explains perfectly what conjunctions do. They connect words, phrases and clauses. In this lesson you will learn how to use the coordinating conjunctions in German. Specifically I will focus on und, oder, aber, and denn, but I will also explain a few other more obscure German coordinating conjunctions.
Categories of Conjunctions in German
There are three main categories of conjunctions in German. The first category of German conjunctions is coordinating conjunctions. They are the easiest to use, which is why we are going to start with them. In future lessons I’ll explain the other two categories of German conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions and two-part conjunctions.
There is also another category that is often left off of conjunction lists, but I believe to be important for German learners to understand. They are technically adverbs that act like conjunctions. I’ll give you one example at the end of this lesson and in the other lesson I will teach you a bunch more.
Other Conjunctions Posts
What are coordinating conjunctions?
Coordinating conjunctions are easier to use than the other German conjunctions, because they do not affect the word order. Subordinating conjunctions require word order changes and two-part conjunctions require you to understand where to put both parts. Coordinating conjunctions are super easy, barely an inconvenience.
As I mentioned in the intro, conjunctions are words that connect parts of sentences together including words, phrases and clauses. The difference between each of the conjunctions is how they connect them. Sometimes they connect them into a list. Other times the connection is showing that the words on each side of the conjunction are not in the same group. You’ll understand more what I mean as we go through this lesson, but think about that while I talk about each conjunction. What does this conjunction say about the connection between these words, phrases, or clauses?
und - and
The first and most common coordinating conjunction in German is “und”. It means “and” and is used just like it is in English. This conjunction shows you that the words, phrases or clauses that are connected with it are in the same group. This is great for building lists. You simply add it before the last thing in the list and now you have a connection between the things on the list. Let’s try some examples.
Ich habe eine Katze, einen Hund und einen Fisch. -
I have a cat, a dog and a fish.
In this sentence I connected three words with the conjunction “und”. It shows I don’t just have a dog or a cat or a fish, I have all three. You will notice that I used the article in front of each noun. This is necessary to show the gender and case like you normally would.
Also notice that there is no comma between the second to last word and “und”. This is what we call the Oxford comma in English and this doesn’t exist in German. When making a list of words or phrases, don’t add a comma before “und”.
You can also connect a phrase or clause with “und”.
Ich bringe meinem Hund Wasser und meiner Katze Milch. -
I bring my dog water and my cat milk.
Here we connected the phrase “meinem Hund Wasser” with “meiner Katze Milch”. These two phrases are more than just one word, which is what we connected in the previous example.
Mein Hund trinkt das Wasser und meine Katze leckt sich. -
My dog drinks the water and my cat licks itself.
This sentence connects two full sentences, which we classify as clauses when they are pushed together like this. You can do this with the conjunction “und”. These are just a few examples of how you can use this conjunction. Try it out in the comments. Write your own sentence using the conjunction “und”. I’ll take a look and make sure your grammar is right.
oder - or
Next up we have “oder”, which means “or”. This is also used to create lists, but the relationship between the things within the list is different than “und”. When you use “oder”, you are saying that it isn’t all of the things in the group, but rather just one of them. Basically, it is used the same as the English conjunction “or”. Just like “und”, you can connect words, phrases or clauses with “oder”.
Möchten Sie eine Cola, ein Bier oder ein Glas Wein? -
Would you like a soda, a beer or a glass of wine?
Möchtest du einen Kaffee trinken, einen Film sehen oder baden gehen? -
Would you like to drink a coffee, see a film or go swimming?
Wollt ihr mit uns fahren oder sollen wir alleine fahren? -
Do you want to drive with us or should we drive alone?
beziehungsweise - with relation to
Another conjunction that is often left off of lists like this is “beziehungsweise”. It is one of the most common conjunctions, but is also somewhat difficult to really understand all of the nuances of it. If you break apart the word you can see what its real use is. “Beziehung” is a relationship. “Weise” is a manner or a way of doing something. This word shows a relationship between two or more things. This definition gives this word the flexibility needed to fit all of the definitions I will give for it. You will often see “beziehungsweise” abbreviated as “bzw”.
Ich habe drei Kinder beziehungsweise zwei Söhne und eine Tochter. -
I have three children, more precisely two sons and a daughter.
You can also use “beziehungsweise” to mean something like “as the case may be”.
Man muss die Wörter kennen um sie zu sagen beziehungsweise zu schreiben. -
You have to know the words in order to say or write them as the case may be.
Sometimes you translate it as “respectively”.
Heute verkaufe ich Erdbeeren und Bananen. Sie sind rot beziehungsweise gelb. -
Today I am selling strawberries and bananas. They are red and yellow respectively.
To keep this lesson simple and not overly cluttered with extra stuff, I’m going to leave the word “beziehungsweise” for now.
denn - because
One of the most useful conjunctions and one I personally believe is underutilized by German learners is “denn”. It means “because”. All of the other conjunctions in German that mean “because” are subordinating conjunctions, which means they change the word order. If you are just starting to learn German, you should definitely acquaint yourself with the word “denn”, because it can cure you of your lack of a way to say “because” in German.
“Denn” can’t connect single words. It is used to connect clauses. It shows the reasoning for the other clause. Here are a few examples of “denn”.
Ich muss jeden Tag arbeiten, denn ich brauche das Geld. -
I have to work everyday, because I need the money.
Er macht sich keine Sorgen, denn er weiß, dass die finsterste Stunde kurz vor der Dämmerung erscheint. -
He isn’t worried, because he knows that the darkest hour comes just before the dawn.
Sie ist traurig, denn ihr Hund ist gestern gestorben. -
She is sad, because her dog died yesterday.
aber - but
All of the rest of the conjunctions for today mean “but”. They each have their own subtle differences and specific uses. The first is by far the most commonly used and is the most versatile of them all. This word is “aber”.
Ich habe einen Hund und einen Fisch, aber keine Katze. -
I have a dog and a fish, but no cat.
Mein Bruder möchte gute Noten in der Schule bekommen, aber er macht seine Hausaufgaben nicht. -
My brother would like to get good grades in school, but he doesn’t do his homework.
Wir haben unsere Nachbarn eingeladen, aber keiner ist gekommen. -
We invited our neighbors, but none came.
Er hat kein Geld, aber kauft trotzdem ein neues Auto. -
He doesn’t have any money, but is buying a car in spite of that.
sondern - but, however
Another conjunction in German that means “but” is “sondern”. This word is a bit more than just “but”, however. It includes a connotation of “rather”. It shows that the thing mentioned before the conjunction is being negated by the thing after it. This means that the conjunction “sondern” must be used after a negation of some sort. For example:
Ich bin nicht hässlich, sondern mittelmäßig. -
I am not ugly, but rather mediocre.
Das ist keine Katze, sondern ein Hund. -
That isn’t a cat, but rather a dog.
Die Frau fährt nicht mit dem Bus, sondern mit dem Zug. -
The woman isn’t riding the bus, but rather the train.
Mein Bruder studiert nicht Mathe, sondern arbeitet als Mechaniker. -
My brother isn’t studying math, but rather works as a mechanic.
allein - but
Next up we have “allein”. When this isn’t used as a conjunction, this word means “alone”. This gives you a little insight as to the use of it as a conjunction. It is like saying “but with this exception”. It is pretty rare to see this used as a conjunction, but I wanted to include it to make sure that my list was complete.
Personally, I remember the meaning of this conjunction from a line in Rapunzel. When the man goes to the witch’s garden to steal the rapunzel plant for the third time, the witch catches him and says she will let him go with one exception. The line is as follows:
Verhält es sich so, wie du sagst, so will ich dir gestatten, Rapunzeln mitzunehmen, soviel du willst, allein ich mache eine Bedingung: Du musst mir das Kind geben, das deine Frau zur Welt bringen wird. -
If it is as you say, I will allow you to take as much Rapunzel with you as you like, but I make one request (condition): You have to give me the child that your wife will bring to the world.
You can read the entire German version of Rapunzel via the link here.
This was the first instance when I encountered “allein” as a conjunction and it reminds me that this is a kind of elevated speech or at the very least not commonly used. You might equate it to the English “alas” to help you get the idea of how it is used. Here are a couple more examples from Goethe’s tragic play “Faust”.
Die Botschaft hör ich wohl, allein mir fehlt der Glaube. -
I hear the message, alas I lack the belief.
Die Kraft ist schwach, allein die Lust ist groß. -
The strength is weak, alas the desire is great.
I have put a link here so you can read Faust, too, but be warned that it is a pretty difficult text to read.
doch - but, however
A common, but sometimes confusing conjunction that also means “but” is “doch”. “Doch” is more closely related to the English conjunction “however”. It shows a contrast between what comes before the conjunction and what comes after it.
Wir haben unsere Nachbarn eingeladen, doch keiner ist gekommen. -
We invited our neighbors, however none came.
Er ist müde, doch er muss mehr lernen. -
He is tired, but he has to learn more.
Ich höre normalerweise nur Rockmusik, doch Eminem finde ich gut. -
I usually only listen to rock music, however I find Eminem good.
jedoch - but
A slightly more emphatic version of “doch” is “jedoch”. It has pretty much the same use as “doch”, but adds a bit of strength to the meaning. It technically isn’t a conjunction, however. It is an adverb. Not that the terminology really matters, but the effect does matter. Since it is an adverb, it bumps the subject to the other side of the verb just like any other time you start a sentence or clause with anything other than the subject. As I mentioned at the beginning of this video, I will be making a video about more words like this in a few weeks.
Der General wurde verletzt, jedoch zeigte er es seinen Truppen nicht. -
The general was injured, however he doesn’t show it to his troops.
Das Konzert war großartig, jedoch auch sehr laut. -
The concert was great, however also very loud.
Er behauptet, wir haben gewonnen, jedoch haben wir gar nicht angefangen. -
He claims we have won, however we haven’t even started.
This lesson and all of the conjunctions lessons are included in my A2 Elementary German course. You can get this as a part of the Deutschlerner Club.
Other Conjunctions Posts
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