Conjunctions: weil vs. denn

Both weil and denn mean because. The difference is that weil is a subordinating conjunction, which affects the word order, sending the main verb to the very end of the sentence, while denn is a coordinating conjunction, which will not affect the word order.

Conjunctions - English context

English uses conjunctions in different ways, depending on what the conjunction is doing:

Coordinating: this connects two independent clauses and can either add (and, or), dispute (but, yet) or explain a consequence (for, because). In general, a comma is used before a coordinating conjunction in English and in a sentence with two or more clauses, you should not start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction:
- I saw the dog, and I walked to the store.
- I saw the dog, but I walked to the store anyway.
- I saw the dog, for I walked to the store.
  - NOT: And I walked to the store, I saw the dog.
Subordinating: this creates a subordinate (dependent) clause, which is usually not separated by a comma. Clauses with a subordinating conjunction can be placed before the main (independent) clause. Subordinating conjunctions can be used in many different ways: causal (because, since), temporal (while, after, when), conditional (if), concessive (although), etc.
- I saw the dog while I was walking to the store. / While I was walking to the store, I saw the dog.
- I saw the dog because I was walking to the store. / Because I was walking to the store, I saw the dog.

A few conjunctions, like because can act as both types of conjunction:

Coordinating: I saw the dog, because I was walking to the store.
- Think of because as equivalent to for: I saw the dog, for I was walking to the store.
Subordinating: I saw the dog because I was walking to the store.
- Think of because as explaining the main clause - because this thing happened (walking to the store), another thing was the result (dog seen).

German makes the difference clear by using two different words for because:

weil - subordinating conjunction
denn - coordinating conjunction

Using weil for because (subordinating conjunction)

Start with two related independent clauses:

Ich wohne gern in der Stadt.
Es gibt mehr zu tun.

When you connect the sentences with weil you will have:

Ich wohne gern in der Stadt, weil es mehr zu tun gibt.
- I like living in the city because there is more to do.
- Because there is more to do, I like living in the city.

The main verb (gibt) from the second clause (the clause that was subordinated) was moved to the very end of the sentence.

Using denn for because (coordinating conjunction)

Now, let's use denn instead. We start with the same two clauses:

Ich wohne gern in der Stadt.
Es gibt mehr zu tun.

When you connect the sentences with denn you will have:

Ich wohne gern in der Stadt, denn es gibt mehr zu tun.
- I like living in the city, because there is more to do.

Notice how the verb stays in the second position. In German, coordinating conjunctions do not change the normal word order. Since denn is a coordinating conjunction, it does not change the normal order. Denn simply connects the sentences. Remember, you can think of denn as being equivalent to the English coordinating conjunction for:

I like living in the city, for there is more to do.

The verb gibt remains the second term in the clause.

Practice Activity