Genau
Topic test · A2

Word order test

13questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
Start the test Read the topic first

One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

13 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

Heute ins Kino.

I’m going to the cinema today.

gehe ich. You put something other than the subject first (heute) → the verb stays in slot two and the subject drops behind it.

Ich fahre . (morgen · nach Berlin)

I’m going to Berlin tomorrow.

morgen nach Berlin. TeKaMoLo: Temporal comes before Lokal. The exact opposite of the English habit.

Ich habe gestern gegeben.

I gave it to him yesterday.

es ihm. Pronouns jump right behind the verb (in front of the time), and with two pronouns Akkusativ comes first. With nouns the order is reversed: Ich habe dem Mann das Buch gegeben.

…, weil ich morgen .

…, because I have to work tomorrow.

arbeiten muss. In a subordinate clause the conjugated verb (muss) goes last; the infinitive stays in front of it.

Which one is correct?

Ich rufe dich nicht an. nicht stands right in front of the part that goes to the end (here the separable prefix an).

Ich habe das Buch gegeben. (to the child)

I gave the child the book.

With two nouns the order is: first to whom (Dativ), then what (Akkusativ) — dem Kind das Buch.

Am Wochenende nach Hamburg.

We’re going to Hamburg at the weekend.

Am Wochenende fills slot one; the verb comes second and the subject drops behind it: fahren wir.

Ich weiß, dass er morgen .

I know he’s arriving tomorrow.

In a dass-clause the verb goes last, and a separable verb is written together there: ankommt.

Which one is correct?

A noun without an article is negated with kein: keinen Kaffee. nicht negates the verb and the sentence, not a bare noun.

If time and place are in the same sentence, which order sounds natural?

The order a German ear expects is TeKaMoLo: time (morgen) → manner (mit dem Zug) → place (nach Berlin).

The sentence Morgen ich fahre nach Berlin. is grammatically correct.

When an adverb comes first, the verb stays second and the subject moves behind it: Morgen fahre ich nach Berlin.

Ich fahre heute Berlin.

I’m going to Berlin today.

nach expresses direction and follows the place-adverbial order.

Build the sentence: Tomorrow I’m going to school by bus.

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

When the time comes first, the verb takes second position, followed by the subject and the other adverbials in TeKaMoLo order.
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. The verb stays SECOND — whatever happens

    Whatever the sentence starts with (time, place, object), the conjugated verb stays in second position; the subject moves behind it if it has to.

    Heute gehe ich ins Kino.

  2. Two objects: nouns Dativ first, pronouns Akkusativ first

    Ich gebe dem Kind das Buch but Ich gebe es ihm. In a mix, the pronoun goes first.

    Ich habe es ihm gestern gegeben.

  3. In a subordinate clause everything piles up at the end

    After weil · dass · wenn the conjugated verb goes to the very end; with a modal, the infinitive comes first and the modal last.

    …, weil ich morgen arbeiten muss.

  4. TeKaMoLo: time → reason → manner → place

    Adverbials line up in this order. All four together are rare, but even with just two the order holds: time first, then place.

    Ich fahre morgen mit dem Zug nach Berlin.

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Heute ich gehe ins Kino.

    Heute gehe ich ins Kino.

    When an adverb fills slot one, the subject drops behind the verb.

  • Ich trinke nicht Kaffee.

    Ich trinke keinen Kaffee.

    A noun without an article is negated with kein.

  • …, weil ich muss morgen arbeiten.

    …, weil ich morgen arbeiten muss.

    In a subordinate clause the modal goes last: arbeiten muss.

  • Ich fahre nach Berlin morgen.

    Ich fahre morgen nach Berlin.

    Time comes before place — TeKaMoLo.