TEKAMOLO – German Word Order – Learn Easy Way

In this lesson, you will learn all about  Tecamolo – German word order in sentences. The TEKAMOLO rule is a valuable guideline for arranging elements in a German sentence. It represents the following categories of adverbs: TEmporal (time), KAusal (cause), MOdal (manner), and LOkal (place). This rule indicates the correct order for placing these adverbs in a sentence, ensuring that it sounds natural in German.

CONTENTS

What does it mean TEKAMOLO mean?
TEKAMOLO
How do we ask questions about adverbs?
Basic word order in a sentence
Word order of adverbs of the same group
IN BRIEF

What does tekamolo mean?

TEKAMOLO is a study technique that helps German language learners easily remember the order of adverbs of time, cause, manner and place in a sentence. TEKAMOLO is an abbreviation and each syllable means something:

(TE) Temporal= time,
(KA) Causal = cause,
(MO) Modal= manner and
(LO) Local = place.

At the very beginning, we learned where to find the subject and verbs in the sentence. Let’s remind ourselves with this scheme below, called a SENTENCE FRAME:

The subject comes first, the verb comes second, and the second part of the verb comes at the end of the sentence before the full stop.

But what comes in the middle of a sentence and how do we fill in a sentence frame?

The next thing to learn, when it comes to word order in a sentence, is the DATIVE OBJECT and the ACCUSATIVE OBJECT. I believe that many of you have already mastered this as well.

Now we have placed the objects in the sentence frame in the order in which they go when those objects represent NOUNS. Here is an example:

When the accusative object is a PRONOUN, the word order changes. In this case, the accusative object appears BEFORE the dative object:

In the second sentence, there was a change in order.

TEKAMOLO

Now it’s time to discuss TEKAMOLO. This concept is taught at an advanced level, so let’s determine where it fits. While it may not seem very straightforward to you at first, trust me, it can be challenging.

We position TeKaMoLo within the sentence frame, specifically in the middle part of the sentence, following the order indicated by the abbreviation. Let’s take a look at how this works:

Here is a sentence example:

Follow the colors, red is for time (TEmporal), blue is for cause (KAusal), green is for manner (MOdal) and purple is for place (LOkal).
gestern – adverb for time. WHEN? – yesterday 
wegen des Regens– adverb for cause. WHY? – because of the rain
schnell – adverb of manner. HOW? – quickly
ins Haus – adverb of place WHERE? – into the house

In English, this sentence reads this way:
The laundry had to be brought into the house quickly yesterday because of the rain.

How do we ask questions about adverbs?

You can ask questions about adverbs, we have asked them in English above. The following examples show how to ask adverbial clause questions for time, cause, manner and place in German.

1. Wann musste die Wäsche wegen des Regens ins Haus gebracht werden? – Gestern.
2. Warum musste die Wäsche gestern schnell  ins Haus gebracht werden? – Wegen des Regens.
3. Wie musste die Wäsche gestern wegen des Regens ins Haus gebracht werden? – Schnell.
4. Wohin musste die Wäsche gestern wegen des Regens schnell gebracht werden? – Ins Haus.

Basic word order in a sentence

TEKAMOLO is valid as the basic word order in a German sentence. However, this word order is not always mandatory. It can certainly change if, for example, we want to emphasize something, then adverbial clauses can come first:

1. Letztes Jahr bin ich aus wirtschaftlichen Gründen relativ schnell nach Deutschland gezogen.
2. Aus wirtschaftlichen Gründen bin ich letztes Jahr relativ schnell nach Deutschland gezogen.
3. Relativ schnell bin ich letztes Jahr aus wirtschaftlichen Gründen nach Deutschland gezogen.
4. Nach Deutschland bin ich letztes Jahr aus wirtschaftlichen Gründen relativ schnell gezogen.

Word order of adverbs of the same group

What should we do if we have several adverbs from the same group? For example, let’s consider adverbs of time and place.

Adverb of time: goes from BIGGER to SMALLER

For example:
Wir sind vor zwei Jahren im Januar an einem Sonntag abends um 7 Uhr hier angekommen.
We arrived here two years ago in January on a Sunday evening at 7 o’clock.

Adverb of place: goes from SMALLER to BIGGER

For example:
Wir fahren zu meinen Eltern in eine kleine Stadt im Norden von Italien. 
We are travelling to visit my parents in a small town in the north of Italy.

IN BRIEF

Here is a brief order of words and rules you should memorize:

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