Once a sentence has more than one adverbial in the middle — a time, a reason, a manner, a place — German puts them in a preferred order rather than leaving it to taste. The mnemonic is TeKaMoLo: temporal, kausal, modal, lokal. When (Te), why (Ka), how (Mo), where (Lo).
Gegen 19 Uhr fiel der Stand wegen einer Windböe plötzlich auf die Wiese.
Around 7pm the stall fell onto the grass because of a gust of wind.
all four: Te (gegen 19 Uhr), Ka (wegen einer Windböe), Mo (plötzlich), Lo (auf die Wiese)
…am Sonntag um Viertel nach acht mit dem Regionalzug ab Hauptbahnhof.
…on Sunday at a quarter past eight by regional train from the main station.
Te, then Mo (mit dem Regionalzug), then Lo (ab Hauptbahnhof)
Ich fahre morgen mit dem Zug nach Berlin.
I'm going to Berlin by train tomorrow.
the everyday case — Te, Mo, Lo, no reason given
What each letter covers
| Slot | Question | Typical wording |
|---|---|---|
| Te — temporal | wann? wie lange? | morgen, gegen 19 Uhr, seit einem Jahr |
| Ka — kausal | warum? wozu? | wegen des Wetters, aus Versehen, deshalb |
| Mo — modal | wie? womit? | plötzlich, mit dem Zug, ohne Probleme |
| Lo — lokal | wo? wohin? woher? | auf die Wiese, im Büro, nach Berlin |
You will rarely use all four at once. Most sentences have two, and the useful part of the rule is the pairwise consequence: time before place, time before manner, reason before manner. That is why “Ich fahre mit dem Zug morgen” sounds wrong to a German ear even though every word is right.
Pronouns jump the queue
Object pronouns are not part of TeKaMoLo at all. They come first, immediately after the conjugated verb, ahead of every adverbial — so as soon as you replace a noun with a pronoun, it moves forward.
Ich habe das Paket gestern abgeholt.
I picked the parcel up yesterday.
noun object stays after the time expression
Ich habe es gestern abgeholt.
I picked it up yesterday.
pronoun jumps in front of gestern
Ich habe ihr das Paket gestern gegeben.
I gave her the parcel yesterday.
both objects come before the time expression
It is a default, not a law
TeKaMoLo describes the neutral order. You can move any one element to the front of the sentence — position one — to give it emphasis or to link back to what came before, and the verb then stays in second place as always. That is not breaking the rule; that is the other tool German gives you.
Auf die Wiese fiel der Stand — nicht auf den Weg.
It was onto the grass that the stall fell, not onto the path.
Lo fronted for contrast; verb still second
Wegen einer Windböe fiel der Stand plötzlich um.
Because of a gust, the stall suddenly fell over.
Ka fronted, and the rest keeps its order
Morgen fahre ich mit dem Zug nach Berlin.
Tomorrow I'm going to Berlin by train.
the everyday one — fronting the time is extremely common
Common mistakes
✗Ich fahre mit dem Zug morgen nach Berlin.
✓Ich fahre morgen mit dem Zug nach Berlin.
Time comes before manner. Every word is correct; only the order gives it away.
✗Der Stand fiel auf die Wiese wegen einer Windböe.
✓Der Stand fiel wegen einer Windböe auf die Wiese.
Place is the last slot, so a reason cannot follow it. English happily puts the reason at the end; German does not.
✗Sie kam ins Büro heute zu spät.
✓Sie kam heute zu spät ins Büro.
Time first, place last, with the manner between them.
✗Ich habe gestern es abgeholt.
✓Ich habe es gestern abgeholt.
Object pronouns sit in front of all four slots, right after the conjugated verb.
If you only ever remember one pair of it, remember time before place — that is the one that comes up in nearly every sentence, and it is the opposite of the English habit. There is a separate guide on time expressions that covers that pair on its own, with the prepositions that go with them.