Word order: verb second and the Satzklammer

A main clause reads like a grid. Position 1: one single element (it can be long: "Am Montag nach der Arbeit"). Position 2: the conjugated verb, always. If the subject isn't in position 1, it comes right after the verb.

• The Satzklammer ("sentence bracket"): when the verb has two parts, the conjugated part is in position 2 and the rest (participle, infinitive, separable particle) goes right to the end. Everything else sits in between. Why? In German the end of the sentence completes the meaning: you wait for the last word.
• Don't count as position 1: und, aber, oder, denn, sondern, as well as ja, nein and interjections. Aber heute lese ich…
• A subordinate clause can fill position 1: the main verb then comes straight after the comma. Remember "verb, comma, verb": Wenn ich Zeit habe, komme ich.
• Verb in position 1: yes/no question (Kommst du?), imperative (Komm!), and a condition without wenn (Hätte ich Zeit, …).
• After the end: comparisons and subordinate clauses often go after the bracket: Ich habe mehr gearbeitet als du.

Morgen fahre ich nach Genf.

Tomorrow I'm going to Geneva.

Am Wochenende habe ich meine Eltern besucht.

At the weekend I visited my parents.

Wenn es regnet, bleiben wir zu Hause.

If it rains, we stay at home.