Once the basic connectors like weil, aber, and dass are second nature, B2 introduces a set of more precise connectors that express complex logical relationships — proportional result, substitution, and hypothetical comparison — relationships that simple connectors cannot capture, and that mark a genuinely sophisticated style in formal writing and speech.
sodass, and its expanded form so...dass, expresses a direct result flowing from a cause stated in the first clause. The difference between them is that sodass links two full clauses as a single subordinating connector that pushes the verb to the end of the clause, while so...dass splits across an adjective or adverb in the first clause and dass in the second, giving stronger emphasis to the intensity of the cause itself, as in Es ist so kalt, dass ich friere (It's so cold that I'm freezing).
The pairing je...desto (or je...umso) is unique in describing direct proportionality between two variables — a change in one brings a matching change in the other. Grammatically, both je and desto must be followed immediately by the comparative form of the adjective or adverb. The verb goes to the end of the first clause after je, since it behaves as a subordinating connector, while it comes directly after desto in the second clause, which behaves like a main clause: Je mehr du lernst, desto besser wirst du (The more you learn, the better you get).
anstatt...zu and statt...zu express a rejected alternative in favor of the action actually chosen, used with a zu-infinitive when both clauses share the same subject, while ohne...zu expresses the absence of an expected accompanying action. als ob and als wenn introduce an unreal, hypothetical comparison, and for that reason always require Konjunktiv II afterward, as in Er tut, als ob er krank wäre (He acts as if he were sick) — even though he is not. This obligatory subjunctive is what sets als ob apart from the other connectors in this lesson.
The most common mistake is treating je and desto identically for verb placement, pushing the verb to the end of both clauses, when the rule actually requires two different treatments: subordinate word order after je, main-clause word order after desto.