As you read, pay attention to where you see commas! A comma is optional before und, oder, and sowie, but it’s required before aber, denn and sondern!
German Articles
How to use coordinating conjunctions in German?
By: Mareen Fuchs Thu Jun 05 2025
In German, we use coordinating conjunctions (words like “and,” but,” “or”) to connect words, phrases, and clauses. For example:
coordinating conjunction
Es ist kalt, aber die Sonne scheint.
It is cold, but the sun is shining.
Es ist sonnig und heiß, denn es ist Sommer.
It is sunny and hot, because it is summer.
In this post, we’ll talk about when to use each of the most common German coordinating conjunctions, and how to use them in sentences. Ready to have a look?
Table of Contents
What are coordinating conjunctions?
Coordinating conjunctions join words, phrasesNo definition set for phrasesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., and clausesNo definition set for clausesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. that are “equal” in a sentence. This means that they’ll be grammatically parallel — you can connect two nounsNo definition set for nounsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., two adjectivesNo definition set for adjectivesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., two verb phrasesNo definition set for verb phrasesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., two independent clausesNo definition set for independent clausesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., etc., but you cannot mix and match.
Some examples from English…
- Two nouns:
I saw a cat and a mouse
- Two adjectives:
I saw a black and white cat.
- Two verb phrases:
I saw a black cat and told my sister about it.
- Two independent clauses:
I saw a black cat and my sister saw a mouse.
What are the most common coordinating conjunctions in German?
The most common conjunctions are und(and), oder(or), aber(but), doch(but), sondern(but rather), denn(because), and sowie(as well as). Let’s look more closely at each of them!
Tip
‘Und’ and ‘oder’
The coordinating conjunctions und(and) and oder(or) are the most basic German coordinating conjunctions. Just like with “and” and “or” in English:
Und connects two things that are both true:
Im Herbst regnet es sehr viel und es wird auch immer kälter.
In the fall, it rains a lot and it gets colder and colder.
Oder represents a choice: Though, oder expresses a choice between two or more possibilities. So, if you like making lists or providing choices, und and oder are your conjunctions.
Magst du den Sommer oder Winter besser?
Do you like summer or winter better?
Tip
When the coordinating conjunctions und and oder are connecting two or more nouns with the same article ( den in the example above), the articles of the second and subsequent nouns can be omitted.
‘Aber’ and ‘doch’
The coordinating conjunctions aber and doch both mean “but.” They are used to connect two true ideas, in which the second somehow contradicts or limits the first. So, if you ever want to make a statement but qualify it in some way, aber or doch are your best bet.
Hans wollte am Wochenende wandern gehen, aber das Wetter war schrecklich.
Hans wanted to go hiking on the weekend, but the weather was terrible.
Anna liebt Skifahren, doch es schneit leider nicht oft in Deutschland.
Anna loves skiing, but unfortunately it does not snow often in Germany.
Important
Please keep in mind that aber(but) cannot be used with the sense of “except” as in the English sentence “Everyone came but John.”
‘Sondern’
The conjunction sondern(but rather) is used to correct a negative statement using a positive one.
Es soll heute nicht regnen, sondern morgen.
It is not supposed to rain today but rather tomorrow.
Because with sondern allows you are correcting a negative statement, it will always follow a clause containing the words like nicht(not) or kein(no; not).
‘Denn’
Are you always being asked why you are doing something? Then your answer should include the coordinating conjunction denn(because), which is used to provide a reason.
Ronny fährt heute nicht mit seinem Fahrrad, denn es regnet.
Today, Ronny does not ride his bike, because it is raining.
Important
The coordinating conjunction denn has a sibling in the subordinating conjunctionNo definition set for subordinating conjunctionLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. weil(because). The two conjunctions have the same meaning, but an important word order difference:
A denn-clause cannot precede the main clause, and the clause it introduces has normal word order (with the verb in second position):
coordinating conjunctionverbLuisa mag den Frühling nicht, denn sie hat Allergien.
Luisa does not like spring, because she has allergies.
❌ Dennsie hat Allergien, mag Luisa den Frühling nicht.
A weil-clause can stand before or after the main clause, and the clause it introduces follows the subordinate clause word order (with the verb at the end)
subordinating conjunctionverbLuisa mag den Frühling nicht, weil sie Allergien hat.
Luisa does not like spring, because she has allergies.
Weil sie Allergien hat, mag Luisa den Frühling nicht.
Because she has allergies, Luisa does not like spring.
‘Sowie’
Are you a fan of lists? Then, the coordinating conjunction sowie(as well as) is for you, because it is used to connect a series of items.
Du brauchst für deinen Winterurlaub eine Mütze, einen Schal sowie Handschuhe.
aFor your winter vacation, you need a hat, a scarf as well as gloves.
If you wondered if you can use und instead of sowie, the answer is yes. Both, und and sowie are equally acceptable to use in a list!
Important
The coordinating conjunction sowie(as well as) is trying to trick you, because it can also function as a subordinating conjunction meaning “as soon as.” So how do you know the difference? Word order and punctuation! Let’s take a look:
subordinating conjunctionverb
Ich baue einen großen Schneemann, sowie es geschneit hat.
I am building a big snowman as soon as it has snowed.
→ Here sowie follows a comma and hat is at the end, so this means “as well as”.
What are the word order rules for German coordinating conjunctions?
Here are some basic word order rules you’ll want to follow when using coordinating conjunctions in German sentences:
Clauses that start coordinating conjunctions can’t start a sentence, they must follow another clause.
A clause that follows a coordinating conjunction has the same word order that you’d expect in a main clause, with the verb in second position. When figuring out the word order, though, you should completely ignore the coordinating conjunction itself, so the first non-conjunction in the clause is in first position.
conjunctionfirst position (subject)second position (verb)Er fährt immer mit seinem Fahrrad, aber es war heute zu stürmisch.
He always rides his bike, but it was too stormy today.
The conjunction itself, though, can move around to various positions in the sentence. Here are some examples:
- first position (subject)second position (verb)conjunction
Er fährt immer mit seinem Fahrrad, es war aber heute zu stürmisch.
He always rides his bike, but it was too stormy today.
- first position (subject)second position (verb)conjunction
Er fährt immer mit seinem Fahrrad, es war heute aber zu stürmisch.
He always rides his bike, but today it was too stormy.
- first position (adverb)second position (verb)conjunction
Er fährt immer mit seinem Fahrrad, heute war es aber zu stürmisch.
He always rides his bike, but today it was too stormy.
→ Since a non-subject is in first position, the subject goes to third position. - conjunctionfirst position (adverb)second position (verb)
Klaus hatte keinen Schirm, aber glücklicherweise lieh ihm seine Kollegin einen.
Klaus did not have an umbrella, but fortunately his colleague lent him one.
→ Since a non-subject is in first position, and an object pronoun is in third position, the subject needs to be in fourth position.
You can read our article on word order in German sentences, if you want to read more about the standard word order in German!
Can you omit the subject after und?
Don’t believe the myth that Germans love long sentences. The truth is that if there is an opportunity to shorten a sentence, we will take it. Such an opportunity exists after the coordinating conjunction und(and).
When und is used to connect clauses that have the same subject, the subject can be omitted if it occupies the first position after und.
Sie bauen im Frühling Gemüse an und (sie) ernten es dann im Sommer.
They plant vegetables in the spring and (they) then harvest them in the summer.
Fun fact: It is in fact considered better style to omit the subject after und.
Summary
Let’s review the most important information about coordinating conjunctions:
Coordinating conjunctions are used to join words, phrases, and clauses that are equal.
Comma requirements:
Comma optional: und(and), oder(or), and sowie(as well as)
Comma required: aber(but), doch(but), denn(because), and sondern(but; but rather)
Word order:
Coordinating conjunctions occupy the zero position in a sentence, so they do not affect word order.
If the two main clauses have the same subject, the subject in the second subject can be omitted if it is in the first position directly after und.
If you would like to apply what you have discovered today, check out our German coordinating conjunctions exercises. Happy learning!
