While learning German, we will certainly come across the pair of conjunctions sobald and solange. Although these two conjunctions are different, they easily confuse learners. In today's article we will distinguish these two conjunctions.

Let's get started!!!!

1. The conjunction SOBALD (as soon as)

- Used as a conjunction for temporal clauses. Sobald goes with a subordinate clause.

Sobald ich nach Hause komme, gehe ich zur Bank.

(As soon as I get home, I go to the bank.)

- Like other subordinate clauses, the subordinate clause with sobald can swap positions with the main clause:

Sobald ich nach Hause komme, gehe ich zur Bank.

= Ich gehe zur Bank, sobald ich nach Hause komme.

→ Sobald is used to express that someone does something immediately after another event or action takes place.

- We can use the main clause and the subordinate clause with sobald in two different tenses, because the action in the subordinate clause happens before the action in the main clause.

Ich werde dir helfen, sobald du den Müll rausbringst.

(I will help you as soon as you take the trash out.)

- Sobald can be replaced by: sofort wenn, gleich wenn

Sobald ich nach Hause komme, gehe ich zur Bank.

= Sofort wenn ich nach Hause komme, gehe ich zur Bank.

- When sobald is split into so bald, it is no longer a conjunction but an adverb of time. In that case, so bald means "soon", expressing something that will happen in the near future.

Er kommt nicht so bald zurück, denn er muss lange fahren.

(He will not come back soon because he has a long trip.)

2. The conjunction SOLANGE (as long as)

- Used as a conjunction for temporal clauses. Solange goes with a subordinate clause.

Solange es hell ist, dürfen die Kinder draußen spielen.

(As long as it is light, the children may play outside.)

- Like other subordinate clauses, the subordinate clause with solange can swap positions with the main clause:

Solange es hell ist, dürfen die Kinder draußen spielen.

= Die Kinder dürfen draußen spielen, solange es hell ist.

→ Solange is used to connect two actions that take place at the same time. Only while one action is taking place can the other take place. And when one action ends, the other action also ends.

- When solange is split into so lange, it is no longer a conjunction but becomes an adverb of time. In that case, so lange expresses an action that takes a lot of time to carry out:

Ich muss bei diesem Arzt so lange warten.

(I have to wait so long to see this doctor.)

3. WENN replacing SOBALD and SOLANGE

- When wenn is used to replace sobald or solange, the special meaning of these two conjunctions is no longer emphasized as strongly.

Sobald ich nach Hause komme, gehe ich zur Bank.

→ Wenn ich nach Hause komme, gehe ich zur Bank.

Solange es hell ist, dürfen die Kinder draußen spielen.

→ Wenn es hell ist, dürfen die Kinder draußen spielen.