This chapter describes the use of word order in the German grammar. In order to get to grips with the order of verbs in German, it is important to understand what a clause is. A clause is the part of a sentence which contains the finite verb. The finite verb is the part of the verb that shows person, number and tense. In declarative sentences, the finite verb is always the second element of a main clause, while infinitives, past participles and separable prefixes appear at the end. If a sentence begins with a subordinate clause, this is classed as first position, which means that the following main clause must start with the finite verb in order to comply with the ‘verb second’ rule. In German, the order of subjects and objects is much more flexible than in English, and therefore, it is unwise to give hard-and-fast rules for the position of subjects and objects within a German sentence.