In German main clauses, the position of the finite verb is fixed: it always occupies the second position, a rule known as the V2 word order. Elements like the subject, adverbials, or objects can move around before or after the verb, but the verb stays second. However, not every word or phrase at the beginning of a clause counts as an element in this structure. Some parts of a sentence are ignored when determining the verb’s position — these are commonly referred to as "non-elements."
One of the most frequent kinds of non-elements are coordinating conjunctions. Words like aber (but), denn (for), oder (or), sondern (but rather), and und (and) link main clauses but do not affect the word order within the clause that follows. For example, in Sie kam zu spät, aber sie erklärte alles sofort ("She arrived late, but she explained everything right away"), the verb erklärte is still in second position in the second clause, just as it would be without the conjunction. The coordinating conjunction is not counted when placing the verb.
Another case involves modal particles or interjected elements like ja, nein, doch, or even mild interjections such as naja or ach. These can appear at the beginning of a sentence or right before the subject, but they do not take up the initial position in the V2 structure. For instance, Ja, ich verstehe dich jetzt besser ("Yes, I understand you better now") places ich as the first syntactic element, keeping the verb verstehe in second position. The word ja expresses agreement or affirmation but does not disrupt the clause’s word order.
A particularly important non-element is a preceding independent clause. When two main clauses are joined without a coordinating conjunction, the first one often ends in a comma, and the second follows with its own word order. For example, Er erklärte alles ruhig, sie hörte aufmerksam zu ("He explained everything calmly, she listened attentively"). Here, sie is the first element of the second clause, and the verb hörte remains in the second position. The entire first clause is ignored when counting elements in the second.
Discourse markers and adverbials like also, dann, trotzdem, übrigens can also be used as non-elements when they appear before the actual sentence structure starts. In Trotzdem, sie blieb die ganze Zeit ruhig ("Nevertheless, she remained calm the whole time"), sie is still considered the first element, so the verb blieb remains second.
Parenthetical phrases, such as short insertions of the speaker's opinion or modal commentary, also act as non-elements. Phrases like wie gesagt, ehrlich gesagt, or meiner Meinung nach do not count toward word order. For example, Wie gesagt, wir treffen uns morgen früh ("As I said, we’re meeting tomorrow morning") still treats wir as the first element in the clause.
These various expressions and structures — coordinating conjunctions, interjections, parentheticals, initial clauses, and discourse markers — are all ignored when determining the position of the finite verb. They serve to add information or connect thoughts but are not part of the syntactic scaffolding that German word order relies on. Recognizing them as non-elements makes it easier to understand why the verb appears where it does and how native speakers structure their sentences.