Wenn in German: How to Say "When" and "If" (and Where the Verb Goes)

You use "when" and "if" all the time when you talk about habits, plans, and conditions. German uses one word for both meanings: wenn (when, whenever, if).

The meaning is usually easy. The difficult part is where the verb goes. This post shows you the word order in wenn sentences, including questions, modal verbs, and separable verbs.

Try it first

Look at where the verb sits in each sentence. Read the short reason after each answer.

If some of those felt like guesses, here is how each one works.

What wenn means

Wenn can mean "when" or "whenever" when something happens again and again, or when it will happen in the future.

Wenn ich nach Hause komme, koche ich einen Tee. (Whenever I come home, I make a cup of tea.)

Ruf mich an, wenn du am Bahnhof bist. (Call me when you are at the station.)

Wenn ich Geburtstag habe, backe ich einen Kuchen. (When it's my birthday, I bake a cake.)

Wenn can also mean "if" when you are talking about a condition.

Wenn es morgen regnet, bleiben wir zu Hause. (If it rains tomorrow, we'll stay at home.)

Wenn du Hunger hast, ist noch Suppe im Kühlschrank. (If you're hungry, there's still soup in the fridge.)

You don't need a different word order for these two meanings. The context usually makes the meaning clear.

Where the verb goes

Wenn starts a subordinate clause (Nebensatz). In a wenn clause, the conjugated verb goes at the very end.

Start with two simple main clauses (Hauptsätze):

Ich bin müde. (I'm tired.)

Ich trinke einen Kaffee. (I drink a coffee.)

Now join the ideas with wenn:

Ich trinke einen Kaffee, wenn ich müde bin. (I drink a coffee when I'm tired.)

The verb bin moves to the end of the wenn clause. The same thing happens here:

Wir bleiben zu Hause, wenn es morgen regnet. (We'll stay at home if it rains tomorrow.)

A comma always separates the wenn clause from the main clause. Don't leave it out.

If you want to review why a main-clause verb normally goes in position 2, read our German word order post. Weil (because) works the same way as wenn: its clause has the verb at the end. You can see that pattern in our post about weil, denn, and deshalb.

Starting with wenn

You can put the wenn clause after the main clause:

Ich trinke einen Kaffee, wenn ich müde bin. (I drink a coffee when I'm tired.)

Or you can start with the wenn clause:

Wenn ich müde bin, trinke ich einen Kaffee. (When I'm tired, I drink a coffee.)

The meaning stays the same. But the word order after the comma changes.

The whole wenn clause takes position 1. That means the main clause must start with its verb, and then the subject comes after it. You can see the pattern as verb, comma, verb: bin, trinke.

The same change happens in this pair:

Wir bleiben zu Hause, wenn es morgen regnet. (We'll stay at home if it rains tomorrow.)

Wenn es morgen regnet, bleiben wir zu Hause. (If it rains tomorrow, we'll stay at home.)

Here, the pattern is regnet, bleiben. Check for it every time you start a sentence with wenn.

You can also use dann (then) at the start of the main clause:

Wenn es morgen regnet, dann bleiben wir zu Hause. (If it rains tomorrow, then we'll stay at home.)

Dann is optional. When you use it, the verb still comes directly after it: dann bleiben wir, not dann wir bleiben.

Wenn with modal verbs and separable verbs

What happens with modal verbs?

A modal verb has an infinitive with it. In a wenn clause, the infinitive comes first and the conjugated modal verb comes at the very end.

Ich nehme den Bus, wenn ich früh da sein muss. (I take the bus when I have to be there early.)

The infinitive is sein (to be), and muss is the conjugated modal verb. So the end of the clause is da sein muss.

Compare it with the main clause:

Ich muss früh da sein. (I have to be there early.)

In a main clause, the modal verb is in position 2 and the infinitive is at the end. In a wenn clause, both are at the end, with the modal verb last.

You can also put this kind of wenn clause first:

Wenn du willst, können wir heute zusammen kochen. (If you want, we can cook together today.)

After the comma, können comes first because the wenn clause is in position 1.

What happens with separable verbs?

A separable verb splits in a main clause. For example:

Der Zug kommt um acht Uhr an. (The train arrives at eight o'clock.)

Ich kaufe am Samstag ein. (I do the shopping on Saturday.)

But in a wenn clause, the separable verb stays together at the end.

Ich schreibe dir, wenn der Zug ankommt. (I'll text you when the train arrives.)

Here, ankommen (to arrive) stays as one word: ankommt.

Look at this longer example:

Wenn ich am Samstag einkaufe, nehme ich immer eine Tasche mit. (When I do the shopping on Saturday, I always take a bag with me.)

Einkaufen (to do the shopping) stays together because it is in the wenn clause. But mitnehmen (to take along) is in the main clause, so it splits: nehme ... mit.

How do you ask "What do you do when...?"

A useful question pattern is:

Was machst du, wenn es am Wochenende regnet? (What do you do when it rains at the weekend?)

The question word Was (what) is in position 1, and machst is in position 2. The wenn clause comes after the comma, so its verb regnet goes at the end.

A natural answer can start with the wenn clause:

Wenn es am Wochenende regnet, schaue ich Filme. (When it rains at the weekend, I watch films.)

Check the pattern: regnet, schaue.

Here is another question and answer:

Was machst du, wenn du Geburtstag hast? (What do you do when it's your birthday?)

Wenn ich Geburtstag habe, backe ich einen Kuchen. (When it's my birthday, I bake a cake.)

Again, the wenn clause comes first, so the main clause starts with the verb: habe, backe.

Mistakes English speakers make

English doesn't move the verb like this, so these mistakes are easy to make. Check the end of the wenn clause first, then check what comes after the comma.

Wrong	Right	Why
..., wenn ich bin müde.	..., wenn ich müde bin.	After wenn, the verb goes to the end.
Wenn ich müde bin, ich trinke einen Kaffee.	Wenn ich müde bin, trinke ich einen Kaffee.	The wenn clause is position 1, so the verb comes next.
..., wenn der Zug kommt an.	..., wenn der Zug ankommt.	The separable verb stays in one piece at the end.
..., wenn ich muss früh da sein.	..., wenn ich früh da sein muss.	The modal verb goes last.
Wenn es morgen regnet, dann wir bleiben zu Hause.	Wenn es morgen regnet, dann bleiben wir zu Hause.	After dann, the verb comes next.
Ich trinke einen Kaffee wenn ich müde bin.	Ich trinke einen Kaffee, wenn ich müde bin.	A comma always separates the wenn clause from the main clause.

Practise with wenn

Write three sentences about your own week that start with Wenn: one habit, one plan, and one condition. Each time, check for the verb, comma, verb pattern.

Then use the Sentence Order game to practise putting the verb in the right place.