Deutsch · A2 · grammar · 4 minutes
Modal sentence brackets
Place the finite modal second and the content infinitive at the very end of a main clause.
Understand the choice
The modal bracket lets German keep tense and agreement near the front while postponing the main action. Everything else—subject, objects, time, cause, manner—fits between the two edges.
Core rule: A finite modal occupies verb-second position; its dependent infinitive closes the clause and stays attached if separable.
Notice it in context
Morgen muss ich wegen eines Termins früher aufstehen.
Tomorrow I must get up earlier because of an appointment.
Muss is second after morgen; ich and cause fill the middle; aufstehen remains joined at the end.
Wir können die Tickets online kaufen.
We can buy the tickets online.
Können opens and kaufen closes the bracket.
Darf man hier Fahrräder abstellen?
May bicycles be parked here?
Darf begins the question; separable infinitive abstellen remains one word.
What to remember
- With a modal, the dependent infinitive does not use zu.
- A subordinate modal clause places both infinitives near the end, with the finite modal last in simple cases.
Common trap: Do not split a separable verb when it is the dependent infinitive: muss aufstehen, not muss stehen…auf.