Word
Entweder kommst du mit ins Bürgeramt, oder ich stelle den Antrag allein.
Meaning
Either you come with me to the citizens’ office, or I’ll submit the application alone.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Entweder kommst du mit ins Bürgeramt, oder ich stelle den Antrag allein.
in
in
ich
I
du
you
allein
alone
Questions & Answers about Entweder kommst du mit ins Bürgeramt, oder ich stelle den Antrag allein.
Why does the verb come before the subject in the first clause (kommst du)?
German main clauses are verb-second (V2). Because Entweder occupies the first position, the finite verb kommst must be in second position and the subject du follows: Entweder | kommst | du | mit …. It’s not a question.
It still looks like a question. How can I tell it isn’t one?
Yes/no questions put the finite verb in first position: Kommst du mit ins Bürgeramt? Here, the verb is second because Entweder is first. The following oder-clause also signals it’s a statement offering alternatives, not a question.
Is the comma before oder required?
With coordinating conjunctions like und/oder that link two main clauses, the comma is optional. With entweder … oder …, both versions are correct:
- With comma: Entweder …, oder … (clearer)
- Without comma: Entweder … oder … (also correct)
Why is mit not at the very end? Shouldn’t separable prefixes go last?