B1 · Word order
The order of the middle field
temporal, kausal, modal, lokal
When several adverbials meet, German has a default order: when, why, how, where.
Between the verb in second position and whatever stands at the end, German has a stretch called the middle field, and when several pieces of information land in it they arrange themselves in a default order. The mnemonic is TeKaMoLo: temporal, kausal, modal, lokal — when, why, how, where.
Ich fahre morgen wegen der Prüfung mit dem Zug nach Berlin. Tomorrow (when), because of the exam (why), by train (how), to Berlin (where). Every one of the four is optional, and their relative order stays the same however many appear.
It is a default rather than a law. Moving one element out of order emphasises it, and moving one to the front of the sentence emphasises it strongly. But a sentence built without any sense of the default reads as scrambled, and this is the rule that turns grammatically correct German into German that sounds arranged.
Die Form
| Te — temporal | morgen, um acht, letzte Woche |
| Ka — kausal | wegen des Wetters, aus Angst |
| Mo — modal | mit dem Zug, schnell, gern |
| Lo — lokal | nach Berlin, im Büro, dorthin |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
The default order in the middle field is time, reason, manner, place.
Er ist gestern wegen des Streiks zu Fuß ins Büro gegangen.He walked to the office yesterday because of the strike.
Pronoun objects come before everything, and before noun objects.
Ich habe es ihm gestern gegeben.I gave it to him yesterday.
nicht stands late, in front of what it negates.
Er ist gestern nicht gekommen.He did not come yesterday.
Any one element may move to first position for emphasis, and then the verb still comes second.
Mit dem Zug fahre ich morgen nach Berlin.By train is how I am going to Berlin tomorrow.
Genauer hingesehen
What comes before the middle field
Objects and adverbials share the middle field, and there is an order between them too. Pronouns go first, in the order accusative before dative: Ich gebe es ihm. Noun objects go the other way round, dative before accusative: Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch. Known information tends to come early, new information late.
That last principle is the one doing the real work, and TeKaMoLo is a special case of it. German puts what the listener already has near the front and saves what is new for the position just before the verb at the end, which is the most emphatic spot in the sentence.
Ausnahmen und Sonderfälle (2)
-
one element is being contrasted
it moves out of the default order, often to the front.
Nach Berlin fahre ich morgen, nicht nach Bonn.It is Berlin I am going to tomorrow, not Bonn.
Position is how German marks emphasis, since it cannot rely on stress alone the way English does.
-
a place is the goal of a verb of motion
it stays at the end regardless.
Sie ist gestern schnell nach Hause gelaufen.She ran home quickly yesterday.
The destination belongs closely to the verb and behaves almost as part of it.
Woran man es erkennt
- morgen
- gestern
- wegen
- deshalb
- mit
- zu Fuß
- nach
- in
Beispielsätze
Wir treffen uns morgen im Café.We are meeting tomorrow at the café.
Sie fährt jeden Tag mit dem Rad zur Arbeit.She cycles to work every day.
Er hat gestern aus Versehen die Tür abgeschlossen.He accidentally locked the door yesterday.
Ich komme heute wegen des Wetters später.I am coming later today because of the weather.
Sie ist letztes Jahr allein nach Japan gereist.She travelled to Japan alone last year.
Noch 6 Beispielsätze
Ich rufe dich heute Abend kurz an.I will give you a quick call this evening.
Er hat sie letzte Woche zufällig getroffen.He ran into her by chance last week.
Wir fahren im Sommer mit dem Auto nach Italien.We are driving to Italy in the summer.
Sie arbeitet seit Jahren erfolgreich in Hamburg.She has worked successfully in Hamburg for years.
Der Brief kam gestern leider zu spät an.The letter unfortunately arrived too late yesterday.
Ich habe ihm das gestern gesagt.I told him that yesterday.
Besonderheiten (2)
-
The mnemonic exists in German schools too
German pupils are taught <z>TeKaMoLo</z> as well, which is a useful thing to know: the order is not a foreign-learner simplification but the way the language is actually described from the inside. The kausal slot is the one most often empty.
-
Two temporal elements go from wide to narrow
When time appears twice, the larger frame comes first: <z>morgen um acht</z>, <z>am Montag um halb neun</z>, never the other way round. Place behaves the same way — <z>in Berlin im Zentrum</z> — which is the opposite of an English address.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
English puts place before time — "I am going to Berlin tomorrow" — and German does the opposite. The wrong version is understood and marks the speaker immediately, because the place at the end is where a German ear expects it and finding it early feels like the sentence has been interrupted. The order to remember is simply the reverse of the English instinct: time first, place last.
Time first, place last — the opposite of English.
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