Long sentences: nested clauses and the verb cluster

German can pile verbs up at the end of a clause and put clauses inside clauses. Mark Twain famously complained about it. At C2 you should be able to unpack such sentences quickly, and to write them correctly when they are the best choice, and to avoid them when they are not.

The double infinitive

In the perfect, a modal verb (and lassen, often also sehen, hören, helfen) used with another infinitive appears as an infinitive, not a participle: Er hat kommen müssen, not gemusst.

• Er hat das Formular noch einmal ausfüllen müssen.He had to fill in the form again.
• Wir haben die Kinder im Garten spielen lassen.We let the children play in the garden.

The cluster in a subordinate clause

Normally the finite verb goes to the very end of a subordinate clause. With a double infinitive, it moves in front of the cluster instead. The same happens with werden + double infinitive.

• Ich weiß, dass er das Formular noch einmal hat ausfüllen müssen.I know that he had to fill in the form again.
• Sie ärgert sich, weil sie das Problem hätte vermeiden können.She's annoyed because she could have avoided the problem.
• Ich glaube nicht, dass sie das allein wird entscheiden wollen.I don't think she'll want to decide that on her own.

Read clusters from right to left: in gesehen worden sein muss, muss governs sein, which governs gesehen worden: "must have been seen". In Austria and southern Germany you will also hear dass er gehen hat müssen; in standard writing, use the order in the table.

• Der Täter soll schon vor Tagen gesehen worden sein.The perpetrator is said to have been seen days ago.

Nested clauses

A relative clause can sit inside another clause, which sits inside a sentence. Every clause is closed by a comma on both sides.

• Der Mann, der den Hund, der gestern gebellt hat, gefüttert hat, wohnt nebenan.The man who fed the dog that barked yesterday lives next door.
• Weil wir nicht wussten, ob der Zug, den wir nehmen wollten, fahren würde, sind wir mit dem Auto gefahren.Because we didn't know whether the train we wanted to take would run, we went by car.

Making it readable

• Move relative clauses and dass clauses to the end field (Fronting and the end field: word order for emphasis).
• Don't nest more than two levels deep.
• Split into two sentences, linking with a pronoun or a connector.
• Keep the subject and its verb close together where you can.

• Der Mann wohnt nebenan.The man lives next door.
• Er hat den Hund gefüttert, der gestern gebellt hat.He fed the dog that barked yesterday.

Commas are your map. In a long German sentence, find the commas first; each pair encloses one clause, and its verb is at its end.

Common mistakes

• Er hat das machen gemusst. The double infinitive: Er hat das machen müssen.
• …, dass er gehen müssen hat. With a double infinitive, the finite verb goes first: dass er hat gehen müssen.
• …, dass er hat das machen müssen. Only the verbs move; the object stays before them: dass er das hat machen müssen.
• Forgetting the comma that closes an embedded clause: Die Frau, die anrief ist meine Tante.
• Stacking three levels of clauses in a text meant to be read quickly.