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in the central section
The structure of German main clauses is different from English. In English, a number of words or phrases can come before the verb, and the subject is almost always immediately before the finite verb. In fact, as English has no case endings for the subject, this is the only way we can tell it is the subject.
In German, the subject often comes after the verb, inside the central section. It is important to learn to recognize what the subject is from its ending: the subject is in the nominative case; from the ending on the verb: this agrees with the subject. You can see this from the following sentences, which are easy to misunderstand because there is an object or complement in first position, and the subject comes later in the sentence:
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There is nothing unusual or out of the ordinary about these sentences. They have this order because of where the writer (or speaker) wants to put the emphasis.
Polizisten attackierte gestern Abend in Amstetten ein alkoholisierter Arbeitsloser. Yesterday evening an unemployed drunk attacked policemen in Amstetten. Diesen Nachbarn begegnete mein Bruder nun öfters. My brother met these neighbours frequently from then on. Dieser Frau hat er dann das Handy von seiner Schwester gegeben. He then gave this woman his sister’s mobile phone. Den Ministern erschien diese Politik unmöglich. These policies seemed impossible to the ministers. Auch die dringend notwendige neue Heizung können sich die Eheleute nicht leisten. The married couple cannot even afford the new heating which they so urgently need. Auch über diese Geschichte kann in Rudolstadt kaum jemand lachen. Hardly anyone in Rudolstadt is able to laugh about this story either.
9.4 The order of words and phrases in the central section
Except for the verbs and the element in first position in main clauses, all the words and phrases in a German clause normally come in the CENTRALSECTION, between the ‘brackets’. The words in the central section tend to appear in the order summarized in the word order table at the end of the chapter. The sequence given there can be treated as a reliable guideline for your own use, but you will sometimes find Germans changing it slightly for reasons of emphasis.
More details about this sequence are given in the following sections (9.5–9.8). You should remember that this order is the same for the central section of all clause types, in questions and subordinate clauses as well as in main clauses.
