GrammarB1· Briefe & E-Mails

Kommasetzung

Commas

Kartoffel · your teacher

Hi! Let's look at this one together — step by step, no rush.

From what you know

Ich schreibe Ihnen, weil die Heizung kaputt ist.Die Heizung, die Sie im Mai repariert haben, ist wieder kaputt.

6 parts · about 6 min

1What & when

In one line

A comma around every , and before aber or sondern joining two parts.

Before

Ich schreibe Ihnen weil die Heizung nicht funktioniert.

Watch the sentence change …

A starts here, so a comma goes before weil. Its verb, funktioniert, stands at the end.

„Ich schreibe Ihnen, weil die Heizung nicht funktioniert.“ — I'm writing to you because the heating isn't working.

Kartoffel

First, what is it?

German puts commas where the grammar changes, not where you take a breath. So German texts have more commas than English ones. Readers notice a missing comma before dass or weil at once.

Kartoffel

And when do you need it? More often than you'd think:

Briefe & E-MailsYou need it in every letter and e-mail you write. Think of a complaint to the landlord, a request to the school, a cancellation or a thank-you to a friend. You also need it in the writing tasks of the B1 exam.

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