Commas – Free Exercise

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Exercises

Comma or no comma? Decide if the sentences are correct or not.

  1. Weißt du wo ich mein Handy hingelegt habe?[Do you know where I left my phone?]|incorrect|correct: Weißt du, wo ich mein Handy …|Use a comma between main clauses and subordinate clauses (signal word: wo)
  2. Ich freue mich, dass ihr uns besuchen kommt.[I’m happy that you’re coming to visit us.]|correct|Use a comma between a main clause and a subordinate clause (signal word: dass)

Choose the correct version of the sentence.

  1. Infinitive with zu[He spent a month in Berlin to learn German.]|Use a comma before um zu
  2. Direct speech[“We can meet up tomorrow,” she said.]|The comma comes after the closing speech marks in German

Click on the words in the text that take a comma.

  1. Gestern, es, war, schon, spät, am, Abend, fing, es, plötzlich, an, zu, schneien.[Yesterday, it was already late in the evening, it suddenly started snowing.]|Commas 1 & 2: Commas are obligatory when we insert a subordinate clause in the middle of the sentence|Comma 3: Optional comma before the infinitive with zu
  2. Im, Nu, waren, alle, Autos, die, auf, der, Straße, standen, zugeschneit.[In no time at all the cars on the street were snowed in.]|Commas 1 & 2: Relative clauses are framed by commas Oh, das, war, ein, Spaß![Oh, it was so fun!]|Optional comma after an interjection (oh)
  3. Als, ich, am, nächsten, Morgen, auf, die, Straße, kam, wusste, ich, nicht, mehr, welches, mein, Auto, war.[When I got to the road the next morning, I didn’t know which car was mine.]|Comma 1: als + subordinate clause takes a comma|Comma 2: separates the main clause (wusste ich nicht mehr …) from the subordinate clause (welches …)