german_sentence_builder

The comma
In German, the comma is used to delineate clauses within a sentence. Even if there are no conjunctions
to separate the clauses, the commas are still used; the clauses are treated like a series
that is separated by commas. For example:
Im Sommer trafen sie sich im Park, sie
lasen Gedichte und Erzählungen, sie
unterhielten sich über Musik und Kunst.
In summer, they met in the park, they read
poems and stories, they conversed about
music and art.
In English, such long clauses in a sentence tend to be separated by a semicolon, but in German,
although a semicolon might be used, the comma is preferred.
When a coordinating conjunction is used to link a clause to a main clause, a comma is used
to separate the units. This occurs with declarative sentences or questions:
Er machte mit seinen Freunden eine
Ferienreise, aber nach vier Tagen
wollte er schon nach Hause kommen.
Müssen wir hier bleiben, oder können
wir morgen wieder nach Hause gehen?
In diesem Roman findest du keine
Wahrheit, sondern nur die Fantasie
des Schriftstellers.
He took a vacation trip with friends, but after
four days he wanted to come home.
Do we have to stay here, or can we go back
home tomorrow?
You won’t find any truth in this novel, but
rather the fantasy of the author.
In this last example, note that the subject and verb are not written but understood (..., sondern
du findest nur die Fantasie des Schriftstellers.).
Clauses introduced by a subordinating conjunction are separated from the main clause by a
comma. This occurs with declarative sentences and questions. Some subordinating conjunctions
can introduce the sentence or follow the main clause:
Sie fragten, ob Tante Luise in die Stadt
mitfahren wollte.
Erik besuchte seine Freundin, als er in
Basel war.
Sie weiß, dass er Unrecht hat.
A clause introduced by als often begins the sentence:
Als wir in den Bergen wohnten, mussten
wir gefährliche Schneestürme ertragen.
They asked whether Aunt Luise wanted to
come along to the city.
Erik visited his girlfriend when he was in Basel.
She knows that he is wrong.
When we lived in the mountains, we had to
endure dangerous blizzards.
In some cases, it is possible to omit the conjunction dass. The clause that follows is still separated
from the main clause by a comma, but the position of the conjugated verb changes:
Der Mann behauptete, er habe den
Diebstahl nicht gesehen.
Er sagte, er kenne den Fremden überhaupt
nicht.
The man insisted he hadn’t seen the theft.
He said he didn’t know the stranger at all.
There is a tendency to avoid using a comma with the coordinating conjunctions und and
aber. But a comma can be used in order to make the meaning of the sentence clear. The other
coordinating conjunctions, however, always require the use of a comma.
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