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Complex sentences
obwohl although concession Obwohl er mein Vetter ist, kann ich nichts für ihn tun. Although he’s my cousin, there’s nothing I can do for him. NB obgleich, obschon, wenngleich and wiewohl also mean ‘although’. They are used mainly in written German and are less common than obwohl.
so dass so that result, consequence Er schob den Ärmel zurück, so dass wir die Narbe sehen konnten. He pushed his sleeve back so that we could see the scar. NB Don’t confuse so dass with damit, which indicates a purpose. If you said Er schob den Ärmel zurück, damit wir die Narbe sehen konnten it would suggest that he rolled his sleeve back with the express purpose of showing us the scar.
weil because reason, cause Ich musste zu Fuß gehen, weil ich die letzte Straßenbahn verpasst hatte. I had to walk because I’d missed the last tram. NB In speech, weil is often used like denn with the word order of a main clause, i.e. the verb in second place rather than at the end of the clause, e.g. …, weil ich hatte die letzte Straßenbahn verpasst. Although common, this usage is usually thought of as incorrect and it is not used in written German.
wenn if condition Wenn ich nach Berlin komme, besuche ich meine alte Freundin. If I get to Berlin, I’ll visit my old friend/girlfriend. Wenn ich Zeit hätte, käme ich gerne mit. If I had the time, I’d love to come with you. NB The verb in a wenn-clause is normally in the subjunctive if the condition is unreal or hypothetical (see 7.5). NB wenn can also be used as a conjunction of time, meaning ‘when’.
10.5 Subordination: relative clauses Subordinate clauses which qualify a noun, rather like adjectives, are called RELATIVE CLAUSES. They are introduced by a RELATIVE PRONOUN, corresponding to English ‘who’, ‘which’ or ‘that’: Der Roman, den ich lese, ist interessant. Ich kannte den Mann, der gestern gestorben ist. Der Mann, dem ich helfe, ist sehr alt. Der Stuhl, auf dem ich sitze, ist wackelig.
The novel (which) I’m reading is interesting. I knew the man who died yesterday. The man (who[m]) I am helping is very old. The chair on which I am sitting is wobbly.
