Connecting Ideas with "dass"
When you want to express a fact, belief, or thought, you often connect a main sentence to a secondary idea using the conjunction dass (that). Just like in English, it follows phrases like "I hope," "I believe," or "She says."
Word Order: The Verb at the End
When you use dass, it creates a subordinate clause. The most important rule for subordinate clauses is that the conjugated verb must move to the very end of the sentence.
Additionally, German grammar strictly requires a comma right before dass.
Notice in the sentence above how the verb hast sits at the absolute end, rather than in its usual second position.
Expressing Opinions and Facts
You will frequently use dass to share your thoughts, evaluate if a situation is a pity (schade) or bad (schlimm), or state if something is probable (wahrscheinlich) or possible (möglich). No matter what the main clause says, the rule stays the same: the verb in the dass-clause goes to the end.
Multiple Verbs in a Subordinate Clause
If your dass-clause is in the perfect tense, it will have two verbs: a past participle (like abgeholt) and a conjugated helping verb (like hat). The conjugated helping verb must still take the absolute final position, meaning it sits right after the past participle.
