The Union is a service part of speech, connecting several simple sentences, forming a complex, as well as homogeneous subject, predicate and other members of the sentence. In German, unions are called Bindewörter, that is, literally “connecting words”.
Classification
In German, unions, as in Russian, are divided into two main groups: composing and subordinate. Unions that belong to the first category form complex sentences, and those that make up the second form complex sentences, respectively.
In turn, within these two groups the unions in the German language are also divided into subgroups based on what functions in the sentence they perform. For example, compositional unions can be connecting, co-and opposing, causal, concessive and investigative. Subordinate include conditional unions, target, temporary, comparative and others.
German Unions
The study of German unions should begin with the compositional, as they are much easier in terms of grammar. In most cases, compositional unions in German do not affect the word order in a sentence and serve as a kind of connecting element.
For example, such unions are und (s) - connecting, aber (but) - opposing, sondern (a) - opposing, oder (or) - opposing and others.
Ich studiere Französisch. Mein Freund studiert Englisch. (I learn French. My friend is learning English).
Die Sonne ging unter. Es ist noch sehr warm. (The sun has set. Still very warm).
With unions, these proposals will look like this.
Ich studiere Französisch, sondern mein Freund studiert Englisch. (I study French, and my friend studies English).
Die Sonne ging unter, aber es ist noch sehr warm. (The sun has set, but still very warm).
Reordering Writing Unions
However, among compositional unions there are also those that influence the word order in a sentence. These include jedoch (nonetheless) - concessive and also (so) - causal.
Sie isst nur Obst und Gemüse, jedoch nimmt sie schnell zu. (She eats only fruits and vegetables, however, quickly gaining weight).
As you can see from the example, in the sentence with jedoch the predicate stands immediately after the union, and then the subject and all the remaining members. In the case of also, the word order will be similar.
Subordinate German Unions
Offers with subordinate unions are called complex subordinates. In them, the main and subordinate parts can be distinguished and, in contrast to complex sentences, in which both parts are equal, in the complex subordinate part directly depends on the main and cannot exist separately.
The most common subordinate unions are deshalb (therefore) - investigative, weil (since) - causal, damit (so) - causal, wenn (when) - temporary and others. These unions in the German language have a significant effect on the word order.
Ich gehe nach England. Ich lerne Englisch. (I am going to England. I am learning English).
With a causal union weil, the sentence would be as follows.
Ich gehe nach England, weil ich Englisch lerne. (I am going to England because I am learning English).
You may notice that the word order has changed. After the union is the subject, then all the other members of the sentence. In turn, the predicate has moved to the very end.
If we consider the same proposal, but using a different deshalb alliance, then its meaning will be preserved, but the design itself will look somewhat different.
Ich lerne Englisch, deshalb gehe ich nach England. I study English, so I'm going to England.
The main and subordinate parts have changed places, since the deshalb union is an investigative one. The word order has also changed: now after the union is the predicate, then the subject, and after it everything else.
Another subordinate union is damit.
Ich gehe nach Russland. Ich lerne Russisch. I am going to Russia. I learn Russian.
Ich gehe nach Russland, damit ich Russisch lerne. I am going to Russia to learn Russian. (Literally - “so that I learn Russian”)
The subject is after the union, and the predicate at the very end.
This union can be replaced by an infinitive construction, and the sentence will be translated in the same way.
Ich mache Sport, um Russisch zu lernen.
However, one feature should be considered. A causal union can be replaced with this construction only when only one subject is mentioned in the sentence. In a specific example, "I am going to Russia" and "I am learning Russian."