"What comes onto the table gets eaten!"

Translation: Was auf den Tisch kommt, wird gegessen!

[Soglio]

Why not "Was kommt auf den Tisch wird gegessen"?

[Germandy]

No, the word order is wrong. The place/location (what's the grammatical term for that in English?) goes in front of the verb. If the verb follows a relative pronoun, the sentence becomes a question: 'Was kommt auf den Tisch?' (and the pronoun turns into a question word)

[Germandy]

Looking back at this, I think I have to clarify that the place does not generally go in front of the verb. In a regular sentence, it's exactly the other way round: Wir essen am Tisch. [not Wir am Tisch essen.] It's different here, because the sentence starts with a relative pronoun. You can see that when you turn the sentence around: "Es wird gegessen, was auf den Tisch kommt."

[Soglio]

Thanks for the clarification. I think I have the basic idea, and will watch for similar structures. I appreciate the help.

[Soglio]

Thank you. That's interesting. I was going to ask whether my version would be a legitimate and grammatical question, but on closer study I'm guessing my version makes no sense.

[Levi]

@Soglio : I wrote exactly the same thing as you did - and I think what Germandy was trying to say, is that in a relative clause the verb goes to the very end ( [...], was auf den Tisch kommt. ).

[Soglio]

Thank you. I'm really trying to work on word order now - it keeps sliding away from me - so I especially appreciate the extra help.

[3ergling]

Is "Es wird gegessen, das auf den Tisch kommt." wrong too?

[Benjihund]

What do you all think of, "Was auf den Tisch gelangt, wird gegessen"? I hear it as essentially what is asked, but is it really different?