Sentence bracket
The terms sentence bracket or bracket form describe the typical sentence structure that occurs in German and Dutch as soon as the predicate in the main clause has infinite (non-conjugated) parts in addition to the finite verb (the conjugated verb form). Since the German declarative sentence has a verb second position , the finite verb is in front and the remaining, infinite part - either the prefix of a separable verb , a verb in the infinitive or a participle - is in the back of the sentence; the two then “clasp” the middle field of the sentence, so to speak . The same applies to questions and other types of sentences with verb-first position .
Examples
- He is from Berlin yesterday arrived.
- Tomorrow travels he returned from .
In the clause, the bracket consists of the conjunction and the verbs at the end of the sentence:
- ... because he couldn't see her .
literature
- Hans-Christian Oeser : The sentence brackets in German syntax, Translate , 1, 2017, pp. 1–3
