German subordinate clauses and, therefore, subordinating conjunctions change the word order in a sentence. Let's learn the words that are on this list.

The simple past is the tense used in the German language when writing--as opposed to speaking--about events that happened in the past and have now been completed.

The German future tense (Futur I) is mostly used to express assumptions about the present or future in German. We can also use this tense to express future intentions, although, in spoken German, it is more common to use the present tense for this. We can translate the future tense with the English tenses: simple present or future with will or going to.

The future perfect (Futur II, vollendete Zukunft) expresses the assumption that an action will have been completed by the time of speaking, or by a particular point in the future.

After briefly reviewing the basics of the Präteritum, in this chapter we will turn to the Präteritum forms of modal verbs, which, unlike most forms of the Präteritum, we also use in spoken language.

Da- and Wo-Compounds in German can be confusing to the uninitiated. Have you ever come across a word in German like “davon”, “damit” or “darüber”? How about “wovon”, “womit” or “worüber”? Sometimes in German you can replace a prepositional phrase with an adverb. These adverbs are known as da- compounds, because they have da- followed by the preposition.

Wo + preposition is useful when asking questions for clarification such as in Worauf wartet er? (What is he waiting for?) Many of the wo + prepositions replace the German word combination preposition + was. (incorrect -> Für was ist das?, correct -> Wofür ist das?) 

The past perfect or pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) expresses actions that took place before a certain point in the past. It is the German equivalent of the English past perfect tense. We use this tense in storytelling together with the simple past, to look back at something that happened before a past event. It is the German equivalent of the English past perfect tense. 

The genitive case in English or in German shows a relationship between two nouns. The noun in the genitive case modifies (tells us something about) the other noun. The first noun is part of, connected to, belongs to, or depends on the noun in the genitive case.

Some genitive prepositions are still used, but more and more are replaced by dative constructions. How does one know what to use and when? There are 12 common genitive prepositions.

The Konjunktiv II also known as Subjunctive II is the verb form that we use for polite requests, wishes, suggestions, theories and hypothetical situations.

We conjugate the modal verbs (as well as a handful of others) in the Subjunctive II by adding the subjunctive endings to the simple past stem and adding an umlaut.

Adverbs are often combined with prepositions, which refer either to the dative or the accusative object. Let's look at some of the "temporal" adverbs (adverbs describing time). 

Adverbs of place indicate position and answer the question “where?” (wo?) Adverbs of direction provide information about direction and answer the question: “where from?” (woher?) or “where to?” (wohin?).

The prepositions in and auf (followed by the accusative case) or zu and nach (followed by the dative case) are used. Prepositions of place or locative prepositions show the position or location of nouns, pronouns or articles. Prepositions of place correspond to the questions “Where/Where … to/Where … from?” 

The German weak adjective endings are used when the noun has a definite article. The reason the weak endings are so simple is because when a definite article is present, the der/die/das/etc. provides lots of information about the gender and case. In other words, weak declensions: just -e or -n, do a lesser job indicating the noun’s gender/case.

Use strong declensions when a noun has no article or after a pronoun such as ein wenig (a little), etwas (something), dergleichen (the same), or ein paar (a couple). You'll select 1 of 5 possible endings, –e, –en, –er,-em, or –es.

The positive form expresses the normal degree of intensity of the adjective. By using the comparative form, you increase the intensity of it. It is often used to compare two objects, people, etc. The superlative form is the form with the highest intensity.

Depending on how a given word is used—whether it's the subject, a possessive, or an indirect or a direct object—the spelling and the pronunciation of that noun or pronoun changes, as does the preceding article.

What is the difference between Welch- and Was für ein in German? Don't they both mean "What kind of"? Let's discover more together with this helpful unit.

Indirect questions are questions that are included within the structure of another sentence. Because indirect questions are dependent clauses (Nebensätze in German), we have to change the position of the verb. Indirect questions follow certain introductory phrases, see the examples below. 

Coordinating conjunctions connect two main clauses. Subordinating conjunctions connect main (independent) clauses with subordinate (dependent) clauses. Using subordinating conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs changes the word order in the clause.

Indefinite pronouns express something general or unspecific, rather than something concrete. When an indefinite pronoun is used, the subject or object of a sentence is not specifically defined.