Compound Sentences (Das Satzgefüge)

Note: The following description of compound sentences builds off of the linked discussion of main clauses. That page addresses the placement of such fundamental elements of word order as the predicate, subject, direct and indirect objects, the "mid-field," negations, and "non-elements." This particular page deals only with the ways in which main (or "independent") clauses can be combined within the same sentence.

Again, people who would prefer to follow a more mechanical - but ultimately less complete - set of rules for word order in general would be better served by linking to these prescriptive instructions for German word order. Both sites overlap considerably.

Both English and German allow speakers to combine two or more main clauses within a single sentence. Being placed side-by-side within a grammatical unit, they of course ought to bear a logical relationship to one another, but of a different sort from what exists between a main clause and a dependent one. The connection between the two main clauses can be expressed by means of a coordinating conjunction, an adverb, or simply by proximity.

In English, clauses that are tied together by a coordinating conjunction must be separated by a comma. If there is no such conjunction, the separator must be a semi-colon (or sometimes a colon); a comma would produce a "run-on sentence," which is a grammatical no-no:

In some regards, compound sentences are just a writing convention. Usually, little is lost or gained by presenting the two independent clauses as two distinct sentences (Some representatives of the grammar police frown on starting a sentence with a coordinating conjunction like and or but, but they are losing that battle. And so they should).

The process for combining clauses is similar to that in English, except that a comma can be a permitted divider.

Coordinating conjunctions are the most frequent way to link the independent clauses that are part of a compound sentence. The most common are und, aber, oder, sondern, and denn. They do not affect the word order of the clause that they introduce (i.e., they do not occupy the first position):

The conjunction und connects two clauses, of which the second either adds related information or is a result of the first:

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Sie wollte ihre Eltern besuchen, und ich bin mitgegangen.

She wanted to visit her parents, and I went along.

Du hast das bestellt, und jetzt musst du es essen.

You ordered that, and now you have to eat it.

The conjunction aber introduces a clause that contrasts with the one before it: