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### 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.

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### 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.

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### 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.

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### 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.

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Time before place

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 organize	organisieren
the tour	die Tournee
We are organizing a tour in France tomorrow.	Wir organisieren morgen eine Tournee in Frankreich.
to rehearse	proben
The singer is rehearsing in the hotel today.	Der Sänger probt heute im Hotel.
the drum kit	das Schlagzeug
the stadium	das Stadion
We set up the drums in the stadium in the mornings.	Wir bauen morgens das Schlagzeug im Stadion auf.
the performance	der Auftritt
The performance takes place in the stadium on Friday.	Der Auftritt findet am Freitag im Stadion statt.
to perform	auftreten
We perform in the city on the weekend.	Wir treten am Wochenende in der Stadt auf.
The band traveled to Italy for the tour on Monday.	Die Band ist am Montag für die Tournee nach Italien gereist.
I believe that we are performing in the stadium in the evening.	Ich glaube, dass wir am Abend im Stadion auftreten.
the rehearsal	die Probe
The rehearsal starts at nine o'clock in the theater.	Die Probe fängt um neun Uhr im Theater an.
Are you singing in the theater in the evening?	Singt ihr am Abend im Theater?
The fans are waiting in front of the stadium today.	Die Fans warten heute vor dem Stadion.
Tom is playing the guitar in the hotel today.	Tom spielt heute im Hotel Gitarre.
We are waiting for the rehearsal in the cafe on Wednesday.	Wir warten am Mittwoch im Café auf die Probe.
Do you sleep in the hotel on the weekend?	Schlaft ihr am Wochenende im Hotel?
We often rehearse on the stage in the summer.	Wir proben im Sommer oft auf der Bühne.
The guitar is lying on the sofa now.	Die Gitarre liegt jetzt auf dem Sofa.
The performance is in the theater tomorrow.	Der Auftritt ist morgen im Theater.
the instrument	das Instrument
We are organizing the instruments in the hotel today.	Wir organisieren die Instrumente heute im Hotel.
the applause	der Applaus
The applause for the drums is very loud in the stadium today.	Der Applaus für das Schlagzeug ist heute im Stadion sehr laut.
We hear the applause and the instruments on the stage now.	Wir hören den Applaus und die Instrumente jetzt auf der Bühne.