Second idea - perfect tense
The same rule applies to compound tenses - tenses with an auxiliary verbA 'helping' verb that is used to form the perfect tense. It goes with the past participle and is the verb which stays in the second position in the sentence. The auxiliary verbs in German are haben and sein. and a past participle, eg the perfect tense.
The auxiliary verb (haben or sein) must be the second idea.
Question
Can you identify the verb - the second idea - in the following sentences?
Remember that the past participle stays at the end of the clause.
- Meine Eltern haben ein neues Haus gekauft. - My parents have bought a new house.
- Wir sind ins Kino gegangen. - We went to the cinema.
- Gestern habe ich eine lustige Fensehsendung gesehen. - Yesterday I watched a funny TV programme.
- haben (gekauft - past participle)
- sind (gegangen - past participle)
- habe (gesehen - past participle)
Second idea - future and conditional tenses
The auxiliary verb in the future or conditional tenses is part of werden plus an infinitiveThe part of the verb found in the dictionary. It is the basic form of a verb without a subject, and the equivalent of English 'to...' verbs, and usually ends in -en, -n, -ern, -eln in German, eg spielen - to play., eg:
ich werde...bleiben - I will stay
or
ich würde...bleiben - I would stay
The auxiliary verb is the second idea and the infinitive goes to the end of the clause, eg:
- Du wirst später ankommen. - You will arrive later.
- Die Jungen werden das Mittagessen machen. - The boys will prepare lunch.
- An deiner Stelle würde ich das nie machen. - In your place, I would never do that.
Question
Reorganise these sentences so that the verb is the second idea. What do they mean?
- wird - Bett gehen - Das kleine Kind - früh ins
- Wir - würden - dafür - brauchen - viel Geld
- Ich - sofort - anrufen - werde
- Das kleine Kind wird früh ins Bett gehen. - The little child will go to bed early.
- Dafür würden wir viel Geld brauchen. - We would need a lot of money.
- Ich werde sofort anrufen. - I will phone at once.
Keine zehn Pferde würden mich an solch einen Ort bringen. - I wouldn't be seen dead there. (literally: no ten horses would take me to such a place.)
Word order with the conditional tenses of 'haben' and 'sein'
These do not have an auxiliary and an infinitive. They are simply ich hätte - I would have - and ich wäre - I would be.
They still must be the second idea, eg:
- Ich wäre enttäuscht, das zu verpassen. - I would be disappointed to miss it.
- Wenn ich mehr Zeit hätte, wäre ich sehr glücklich. - If I had more time, I would be very happy.
In this sentence, the first idea is wenn ich mehr Zeit hätte - if I had more time. The main verb is wäre which is still the second idea.
Second idea - modal verbs
In simple sentences with modal verbs, regardless of the tense, the verb must be the second idea in the sentence. The infinitive, if there is one, goes to the end of the clause.
Question
Look at these examples. Can you identify the second idea - the modal verb?
- Meine Freundin darf nicht am Wochenende ausgehen. - My friend isn't allowed to go out at the weekend.
- Ich möchte mich duschen. - I would like to have a shower.
- Die Einwohner in diesem Stadtteil wollen nicht umziehen. -The inhabitants of this part of town don’t want to move.
- Bei Schnee könnten wir Ski fahren. - If it snows we could go skiing.
- darf
- möchte
- wollen
- könnten