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### Meanwhile in the Studio...

When directing a chaotic live television broadcast, things rarely go according to plan. You will often need to describe two events happening at the exact same time. One way to do this is with the temporal adverb **inzwischen** (meanwhile).

Whenever you start a sentence with an adverb in German, it occupies Position 1. Because German requires the conjugated verb to sit in Position 2, the verb must come immediately after the adverb. The subject will then follow the verb.

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### At the Same Time: gleichzeitig

To emphasize that events are happening concurrently, use **gleichzeitig** (at the same time).

When combining two independent clauses, you will frequently see adverbs paired with coordinating conjunctions like *und* (and) or *aber* (but). Because these conjunctions sit in "Position 0" outside the clause structure, they do not affect word order. If **gleichzeitig** directly follows *und* or *aber*, it is in Position 1, meaning the verb still comes next.

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### In the Meantime: währenddessen

A common alternative to *inzwischen* is **währenddessen** (in the meantime). It has the exact same grammatical function and follows the exact same word order rules. Place it at the front of the sentence and let the verb follow immediately in Position 2.

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Adverbs of simultaneity (inzwischen, währenddessen)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
to broadcast	senden
live	live
meanwhile	inzwischen
We are broadcasting live now. Meanwhile, the camera is broken.	Wir senden jetzt live. Inzwischen ist die Kamera kaputt.
at the same time	gleichzeitig
to switch	schalten
The presenter is talking, and at the same time we are switching to Spain.	Der Moderator redet, und gleichzeitig schalten wir nach Spanien.
in the meantime	währenddessen
the control room	die Regie
In the meantime, the control room is looking for the second microphone.	Währenddessen sucht die Regie das zweite Mikrofon.
the viewer	der Zuschauer
The guest is crying. Meanwhile, the viewers are calling.	Der Gast weint. Inzwischen rufen die Zuschauer an.
We are switching to Spain. In the meantime, neither the picture nor the microphone is working.	Wir schalten nach Spanien. Währenddessen funktioniert weder das Bild noch das Mikrofon.
We have to broadcast live, but at the same time the cable is burning.	Wir müssen live senden, aber gleichzeitig brennt das Kabel.
The control room says the presenter should speak. Meanwhile, the guest is falling asleep.	Die Regie sagt, der Moderator solle reden. Inzwischen schläft der Gast ein.
We were broadcasting live. In the meantime, the microphone fell onto the floor.	Wir sendeten live. Währenddessen fiel das Mikrofon auf den Boden.
The boss screamed, and at the same time the viewers saw the chaos.	Der Chef schrie, und gleichzeitig sahen die Zuschauer das Chaos.
The control room is switching to the commercials. In the meantime, we are repairing the lights.	Die Regie schaltet zur Werbung. Währenddessen reparieren wir das Licht.
so far, until now	bisher
So far nobody has complained.	Bisher hat sich niemand beschwert.
The result is the best so far.	Das Ergebnis ist bisher das beste.
the while	die Weile
We waited quite a while.	Wir haben eine ganze Weile gewartet.
After a while it grew quieter.	Nach einer Weile wurde es ruhiger.

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