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V2, not SVO (Was: Save of the dative, the genitive's is already dead!)

From:Henrik Theiling <theiling@...>
Date:Monday, June 13, 2005, 10:46
Hi!

To be picky again, since I think it's wrong and lurkers may be
confused, I have to comment on German syntax:

German does *not* use SVO order in propositional clauses, but V2
order.  This holds after 'denn' too, and also for the shift after
'weil'.  By coincedence, some V2 sentences have SVO order, but the
rule in general is that it's V2 order, not SVO.

Example (with 'denn' since I perceive the new 'weil' order as wrong):

   ... denn ich sehe den Mann.
            I   saw  the man.

   ... denn den Mann sehe ich.
            the man  saw  I.

   ... denn gestern   war ich im     Kino.
            yesterday was I   in.the cinema.

The verb is the second constituent, so it's V2 order, not SVO.

Thank you for your attention! :-)

**Henrik