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deshalb, trotzdem, außerdem: 3 Connectors That Make A2 German Sound B1

GetGermanReady••5 min readA2GrammarExam tips

Listen to an A2 speaker for a minute and you'll hear a lot of „und … und … und“. It's not wrong — it's just flat. The single fastest way to make your German sound a level higher is to swap some of those unds for three connectors that show why, but and and also: deshalb, trotzdem and außerdem. They're the words examiners quietly listen for at the A2–B1 border.

The catch is that these three don't behave like und or aber. They come with a word-order rule, and getting it right is exactly the signal that tells an examiner you've moved past beginner German. Miss the rule and the fancy connector actually works against you.

The one rule
deshalb, trotzdem and außerdem are Konjunktionaladverbien (connecting adverbs). They take up the first position in the clause — so the verb comes right after them, in second position: „…, deshalb LERNE ich heute.“ Not „…, deshalb ich lerne heute.“

That flip — subject and verb swapping places after the connector — is called inversion. Words like und, aber and denn don't cause it (they sit outside the sentence and change nothing). But deshalb, trotzdem and außerdem stand inside the second clause as its first element, so the verb has to follow immediately. Think of it as a simple promise: when you start a clause with one of these three words, a verb comes next.

The three connectors

  1. deshalb — so / therefore (cause → result): „Ich habe morgen eine Prüfung, deshalb lerne ich heute.“ — I have an exam tomorrow, so I'm studying today.
  2. trotzdem — nevertheless / anyway (contrast): „Es war schwer, trotzdem habe ich bestanden.“ — It was hard; nevertheless I passed.
  3. außerdem — besides / on top of that (addition): „Der Kurs ist gut, außerdem ist er günstig.“ — The course is good; besides, it's cheap.

Look at the capitalised verb in each example: lerne, habe, ist — every one sits directly after the connector. That's the whole trick. Whatever you say next, the verb jumps to the front of the second clause.

Why these words already contain their own meaning

Here's a small thing that makes them easy to remember: all three are built the same way — a little relation word glued onto a form of das (“that”). Once you see it, they stop being random vocabulary and start making literal sense.

deshalb
des — of that (genitive of das)+halb — for the sake of (old postposition, as in -halber)
literally for the sake of that→therefore / that's why — it points back at a reason you just gave.
trotzdem
trotz — in spite of+dem — that (dative of das)
literally in spite of that→nevertheless / anyway — it pushes against what you just said.
außerdem
außer — besides / apart from+dem — that (dative of das)
literally apart from that→besides / in addition — it adds a second point on top of the first.
One pattern, three jobs
des-halb = “because of that,” trotz-dem = “despite that,” außer-dem = “besides that.” They're literally little pointing words — each one reaches back to your previous sentence and adds cause, contrast or extra. That's why the examiner reads them as a sign you're connecting ideas, not just listing them.

Common mistakes that give you away

  • Forgetting the inversion. „…, deshalb ich lerne heute.“ is the classic A2 slip. It has to be „deshalb lerne ich.“ — verb second.
  • Treating them like und. und/aber/denn keep normal word order („…, und ich lerne heute.“). Swap in deshalb* and the verb must move. Same idea, different grammar.
  • Mixing up trotzdem and obwohl. trotzdem is an adverb and needs verb-second („Es regnet, trotzdem gehe ich raus.“). obwohl is a subordinating conjunction and sends the verb to the end („Obwohl* es regnet, gehe ich raus.“). Don't say „trotzdem es regnet.“
  • Using außerdem to mean except. As a connector außerdem means in addition. The plain preposition außer (+ dative) is the one that means except*: „alle außer mir.“
Join with deshalb (mind the verb!): „Ich bin müde.“ + „Ich gehe früh ins Bett.“
„Ich bin müde, deshalb gehe ich früh ins Bett.“ — after deshalb, the verb (gehe) comes before the subject (ich).
Fix the word order: „Es war teuer, trotzdem ich habe es gekauft.“
„Es war teuer, trotzdem habe ich es gekauft.“ — trotzdem is first, so the verb habe must come second.
Add a second reason to praise a flat with außerdem: „Die Wohnung ist groß …“
e.g. „Die Wohnung ist groß, außerdem ist sie hell.“ — verb (ist) right after außerdem.

The takeaway

You don't need dozens of connectors to sound more advanced — you need three, used correctly. deshalb for cause, trotzdem for contrast, außerdem for adding on. Learn the single rule that ties them together — verb straight after the connector — and your spoken German stops sounding like a list and starts sounding like an argument. That's the A2-to-B1 jump in one habit.

The rule only sticks once you say it out loud a few times and feel the verb move. Practise speaking German aloud with instant feedback here: