Time before Place
When giving details about an event, English speakers often mention the place before the time (for example, "The singer is rehearsing in the hotel today"). In German, the rule is the exact opposite: time comes before place.
If you have both a time expression (like heute or morgen) and a place expression (like im Hotel or in Frankreich) in the same sentence, the time expression goes first.
| The singer is rehearsing in the hotel today. | Der Sänger probt heute im Hotel. |
| We are organizing a tour in France tomorrow. | Wir organisieren morgen eine Tournee in Frankreich. |
Separable verbs
The "time before place" rule is very consistent and applies across different sentence structures. If you are using a separable verb like auftreten (to perform) or anfangen (to start), the time and place expressions simply sit between the conjugated verb in Position 2 and the detached prefix at the very end of the sentence.
| We perform in the city on the weekend. | Wir treten am Wochenende in der Stadt auf. |
| The rehearsal starts at nine o'clock in the theater. | Die Probe fängt um neun Uhr im Theater an. |
Questions
The same order applies to yes/no questions. The conjugated verb takes Position 1, followed by the subject, and then your time and place details.
| Are you singing in the theater in the evening? | Singt ihr am Abend im Theater? |
Subordinate clauses
Even in subordinate clauses introduced by words like dass (that)—where the conjugated verb gets kicked to the very end of the sentence—the internal order remains the same: time happens before place.
| I believe that we are performing in the stadium in the evening. | Ich glaube, dass wir am Abend im Stadion auftreten. |