Verbfolge
Verbfolge, or verb sequence, is a linguistic term that describes the order in which verbs appear in a clause when several verbal elements occur together. The concept is used to analyze periphrastic verb phrases, where auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, and lexical verbs combine to express tense, mood, aspect, or voice. While the term is most common in the study of Germanic languages, the idea of a fixed or preferred order of verbs in a clause is found in analyses of related languages as well.
In German, the structure of a verb cluster is described with reference to the position of the
A common illustrative example in German is a chain of two infinitives following an auxiliary: Ich habe