Weil, Denn or Deshalb? German Connectors
These three German sentences all give a reason:
- Ich kann am Samstag leider nicht zum Kurs kommen, weil meine Tochter Geburtstag hat.
- Ich kann Ihnen die Unterlagen erst nächste Woche schicken, denn mein Drucker ist kaputt.
- Die Heizung in meiner Wohnung ist schon wieder kaputt, deshalb schreibe ich Ihnen heute.
Look at the verb. After weil it sits at the very end, after denn it comes second as usual, and after deshalb it jumps in front of the subject. That is the whole problem with weil, denn and deshalb: they mean nearly the same thing, but each one puts the verb in a different place. Pick the right word with the wrong word order and an examiner counts a grammar mistake.
The good news is that German connectors fall into only three word-order groups. In this article you will learn the three groups, which connectors belong to each, how to choose between weil, denn and da, the word order when the weil-clause comes first, and five traps from our German B1 Exam Kit. The example sentences in the video, and most of the ones below, are cards from that kit, and each trap quotes the note its card carries. At the end there is a short self-check and a free practice letter in the shape of the telc exam.
The short answer: weil, denn and deshalb
| Connector | Group | Where the verb goes | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| denn | 1, position 0 | second, as normal: subject, then verb | ..., denn mein Drucker ist kaputt. |
| deshalb | 2, position 1 | straight after deshalb, before the subject | ..., deshalb schreibe ich Ihnen heute. |
| weil | 3, verb at the end | last in the clause | ..., weil meine Tochter Geburtstag hat. |
Denn and weil introduce the reason. Deshalb introduces the result: "the heating is broken, so I am writing to you". That is why deshalb sits on the other side of the sentence.
Three places for the verb
A German statement has the conjugated verb in second place: Ich schreibe Ihnen heute. Connectors decide what happens to that verb, and there are only three possibilities.
Group 1: position 0, the order stays
Aber, denn, und, sondern and oder do not count as a position. They stand in front of the clause, and the clause carries on exactly as it would on its own: subject, verb, the rest. Many German courses teach them as ADUSO, from their first letters.
Ich würde am Samstag gern mitkommen, aber ich muss leider arbeiten.
Put a comma before aber, denn and sondern. Before und and oder joining two full clauses the comma is optional.
Group 2: position 1, the verb comes next
Deshalb, trotzdem, dann, außerdem and sonst are adverbs. They take first place in the clause themselves, so the verb has to follow at once and the subject moves behind it. Others that work the same way: deswegen, darum, daher (all "that is why"), dennoch (formal "nevertheless"), danach and also.
Die Wohnung ist ziemlich teuer, trotzdem haben wir sie genommen.
The classic error is to treat them like group 1: *trotzdem wir haben, *deshalb ich schreibe. Because they are adverbs, they can also move into the middle of the clause, and then the clause starts as normal: Ich schreibe Ihnen deshalb heute.
Group 3: the verb goes to the end
Weil, obwohl, dass, wenn, als and ob start a subordinate clause, and the conjugated verb closes it. So do da, damit, bevor, nachdem, während, seitdem, bis, sobald and falls.
Ich bin gestern zur Arbeit gegangen, obwohl ich starke Kopfschmerzen hatte.
With a compound verb, the conjugated part goes last of all: ..., weil ich gestern zu spät gekommen bin. A subordinate clause always has a comma around it.
Learn which group a connector belongs to and you know its word order. That is the one idea the video builds on, with a moving "slot machine" for the verb.
Same meaning, three word orders
Here is the catch: most meanings come in all three groups. You do not choose the word first and the word order later. You choose them together.
The warning row in full: Beeil dich, oder du verpasst den Zug. · Beeil dich, sonst verpasst du den Zug. · Wenn du dich nicht beeilst, verpasst du den Zug. Three sentences, one message, three word orders.
Weil, denn or da? And where nämlich goes
Weil or denn is the classic question here, and da and nämlich often come up with it. Four differences decide it:
- Answering "Warum?": only weil works on its own. Warum kommst du nicht? Weil ich krank bin. A reply that starts with denn is wrong.
- Putting the reason first: a weil- or da-clause can open the sentence. A denn-clause always comes after the main clause.
- Da for a reason the reader already knows. It is more formal, typical at the start of a sentence, and common in letters: Da ich ab Mai in Hamburg wohne, kündige ich meinen Vertrag. Word order as weil: verb at the end.
- Nämlich is not a connector at all. It is an adverb that goes after the verb, never in first place: Ich komme heute nicht, ich bin nämlich krank. It means "you see" or "the thing is".
Deshalb, deswegen, darum and daher all mean "that is why" and all behave like group 2. Deswegen and darum are a little more spoken, daher a little more formal.
When the weil-clause comes first
This rule trips up many B1 learners, even ones who know the three groups. A subordinate clause at the start of the sentence takes up position 1 of the whole sentence. So the main clause has to begin with its verb:
Weil meine Tochter Geburtstag hat, kann ich am Samstag nicht zum Kurs kommen.
Verb, comma, verb. Not *Weil meine Tochter Geburtstag hat, ich kann ... The same holds for every group 3 connector: Obwohl ich starke Kopfschmerzen hatte, bin ich zur Arbeit gegangen. Wenn du Zeit hast, komm doch vorbei.
Not connectors: wegen and trotz
Wegen ("because of") and trotz ("despite") look like weil and obwohl, and they mean the same, but they are prepositions. They take a noun, in written German in the genitive, not a whole clause:
Trotz des schlechten Wetters kamen über tausend Besucher zum Stadtfest.
Compare: wegen des Regens but weil es regnet. In speech you will often hear wegen with the dative (wegen dem Regen); in an exam letter, use the genitive.
Five traps from the B1 kit
Each of these comes from a card in our German B1 Exam Kit, with the note that card carries. They are five different kinds of mistake.
1. After a negative, the correction needs sondern. Ich möchte nicht in der Großstadt wohnen, sondern lieber in einem kleinen Dorf. Using aber here is the classic error. Aber adds a contrast; sondern replaces what you just denied.
2. Als for one event in the past, wenn for everything else. Meine Eltern haben sich kennengelernt, als sie beide in München studiert haben. Use als for one event or period in the past, wenn for the present, the future or repeated events: Wenn ich nach Berlin fahre, besuche ich meine Tante.
3. Seitdem keeps the present tense. Seitdem ich im Chor singe, habe ich viele neue Freunde gefunden. German uses the present tense for something still going on, where English says "I have been singing".
4. Um ... zu needs one subject. Ich besuche einen Abendkurs, um meine Chancen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt zu verbessern. It works only when both clauses share the subject. With two different people, use damit: Ich erkläre dir den Weg ganz genau, damit du dich nicht verläufst.
5. Weder ... noch is already negative. Ich habe weder Zeit noch Lust, am Sonntag zu arbeiten. Never add nicht or kein.
Two-part connectors like weder ... noch are worth learning as pairs, because the second half is fixed: entweder ... oder (either ... or), sowohl ... als auch (both ... and), nicht nur ... sondern auch (not only ... but also) and zwar ... aber (admittedly ... but).
Where connectors win marks in the B1 exams
Connectors earn points in two ways.
- Writing. In the Goethe and ÖSD B1 writing tasks, one of the four marking criteria is Kohärenz, coherence. The marking grid describes it as Textaufbau (how the text is built) and Verknüpfung von Sätzen und Satzteilen, the linking of sentences and parts of sentences, which is exactly what connectors do. The other three criteria are task fulfilment, vocabulary and structures. Our Goethe B1 2027 guide covers the modules and the 60-point pass rule.
- Gap texts. telc Deutsch B1 tests grammar and vocabulary directly in its Sprachbausteine: part 1 is a letter with ten gaps and three options for each. In our free practice letter in that shape, four of the ten gaps are connectors.
Our German B1 Exam Kit has 100 connector cards (85 connectors and pairs), each tagged with the exam task where it helps most: 48 for writing, 27 for speaking, 15 for reading and 10 for listening. Every card is a sentence with a gap, recorded audio and a note on the trap, like the five above. If you want to know how many words B1 takes in total, this post counts them. If your B1 is for German citizenship, you also need the Einbürgerungstest, and our Einbürgerungstest Trainer is included in the kit.
Check yourself
Choose the word that fits. Then open the answers.
- Ich bleibe heute zu Hause, ___ ich bin erkältet. (weil / denn / deshalb)
- Ich bin erkältet, ___ bleibe ich heute zu Hause. (weil / denn / deshalb)
- Ich bleibe heute zu Hause, ___ ich erkältet bin. (weil / denn / deshalb)
- ___ des Regens fahren wir mit dem Bus. (Weil / Wegen)
- Er hat nicht angerufen, ___ mir eine E-Mail geschrieben. (aber / sondern)
- ___ ich ein Kind war, habe ich in Krakau gewohnt. (Als / Wenn)
Answers
- denn: the subject ich comes first and the verb bin second, so it is group 1.
- deshalb: the verb bleibe follows at once, so it is group 2, and the clause gives the result.
- weil: the verb bin is at the end, so it is group 3.
- Wegen: des Regens is a noun, not a clause.
- sondern: it corrects a negative.
- Als: one period in the past.
Want a longer run in exam conditions? Our free practice letter has ten gaps in the shape of telc Deutsch B1 Sprachbausteine part 1, is marked at once and explains every answer, with no sign-up. It is a practice task, not an official test. You can also check which German B1 words you already know, free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is denn the same as weil?
They give a reason with the same meaning, but the word order differs. After denn the clause keeps normal order (subject, verb), after weil the verb goes to the end. Weil can also start a sentence and answer the question warum?, which denn cannot.
Does deshalb change the word order?
Yes. Deshalb takes first place in its clause, so the verb follows straight after it and the subject comes next: deshalb schreibe ich, never deshalb ich schreibe. If deshalb moves into the middle of the clause, the clause starts normally: Ich schreibe deshalb.
What does ADUSO mean in German grammar?
It is a memory aid for the five connectors that do not change the word order: aber, denn, und, sondern, oder. They stand at "position 0", in front of the clause, and the clause keeps subject-verb order.
Do Germans really put the verb at the end after weil?
In writing, always. In relaxed speech many Germans say weil with normal word order (weil ich hab keine Zeit), especially before a pause. It is common, but in an exam letter or a formal email it counts as a mistake, so keep the verb at the end.
Is trotzdem the same as obwohl?
They express the same contrast from opposite sides. Obwohl introduces the surprising fact and sends its verb to the end: obwohl ich müde war. Trotzdem introduces what happened anyway and takes the verb straight after it: trotzdem bin ich gegangen.