diff --git a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/SubspanQuery.java b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/SubspanQuery.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b01a37d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/SubspanQuery.java
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+package de.ids_mannheim.korap.query;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.apache.lucene.index.AtomicReaderContext;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.Term;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.TermContext;
+import org.apache.lucene.search.spans.SpanQuery;
+import org.apache.lucene.search.spans.Spans;
+import org.apache.lucene.util.Bits;
+
+import de.ids_mannheim.korap.query.spans.SubSpans;
+
+/**	This query extracts a subspan from a span. The subspan starts from 
+ * 	a startOffset until startOffset + length. A positive startOffset 
+ * 	is counted from the start of the span, while a negative startOffset 
+ * 	is counted from the end of the span. 
+ * 
+ * 	@author margaretha
+ * */
+public class SubspanQuery extends SimpleSpanQuery{
+	
+	private int startOffset, length;
+			
+	public SubspanQuery(SpanQuery firstClause, int startOffset, int length, 
+			boolean collectPayloads) {
+		super(firstClause, collectPayloads);
+		this.startOffset = startOffset;
+		this.length = length;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public SimpleSpanQuery clone() {
+		SubspanQuery sq = new SubspanQuery(
+				this.getFirstClause(), 
+				this.startOffset,
+				this.length, 
+				this.collectPayloads);
+		sq.setBoost(this.getBoost());
+		return sq;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public Spans getSpans(AtomicReaderContext context, Bits acceptDocs,
+			Map<Term, TermContext> termContexts) throws IOException {
+		return new SubSpans(this, context, acceptDocs, termContexts);
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public String toString(String field) {		
+		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+		sb.append("subspan(");
+		sb.append(this.startOffset);
+		sb.append(",");
+		sb.append(this.length);
+		sb.append(")");
+		return sb.toString();
+	}
+
+	public int getStartOffset() {
+		return startOffset;
+	}
+
+	public void setStartOffset(int startOffset) {
+		this.startOffset = startOffset;
+	}
+
+	public int getLength() {
+		return length;
+	}
+
+	public void setLength(int length) {
+		this.length = length;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/spans/SubSpans.java b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/spans/SubSpans.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2fe6b2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/spans/SubSpans.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+package de.ids_mannheim.korap.query.spans;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.apache.lucene.index.AtomicReaderContext;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.Term;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.TermContext;
+import org.apache.lucene.util.Bits;
+
+import de.ids_mannheim.korap.query.SubspanQuery;
+
+public class SubSpans extends SimpleSpans{
+
+	private int startOffset, length;
+	
+	public SubSpans(SubspanQuery subspanQuery,
+			AtomicReaderContext context, Bits acceptDocs,
+			Map<Term, TermContext> termContexts) throws IOException {
+		super(subspanQuery, context, acceptDocs, termContexts);
+		this.startOffset= subspanQuery.getStartOffset();
+		this.length = subspanQuery.getLength();
+		hasMoreSpans = firstSpans.next();
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public boolean next() throws IOException {
+		matchPayload.clear();
+		isStartEnumeration=false;		
+		return advance();
+	}
+
+	private boolean advance() throws IOException {
+		while (hasMoreSpans){
+			setMatch();
+			hasMoreSpans = firstSpans.next();
+			return true;
+		}
+		return false;
+	}
+	
+	public void setMatch() throws IOException {
+		if (this.startOffset < 0)
+			matchStartPosition = firstSpans.end() + startOffset;
+		else matchStartPosition = firstSpans.start() + startOffset;
+		
+		matchEndPosition = matchStartPosition + this.length;
+		matchPayload = firstSpans.getPayload();
+		matchDocNumber = firstSpans.doc();
+	}
+	
+	@Override
+	public boolean skipTo(int target) throws IOException {
+		if (hasMoreSpans && (firstSpans.doc() < target)){
+  			if (!firstSpans.skipTo(target)){
+  				hasMoreSpans = false;
+  				return false;
+  			}
+  		} 		
+  		matchPayload.clear();
+  		return advance();
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public long cost() {		
+		return firstSpans.cost() + 1;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/index/TestSubSpanIndex.java b/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/index/TestSubSpanIndex.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae2cef4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/index/TestSubSpanIndex.java
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package de.ids_mannheim.korap.index;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.lucene.index.Term;
+import org.apache.lucene.search.spans.SpanTermQuery;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import de.ids_mannheim.korap.KorapIndex;
+import de.ids_mannheim.korap.KorapResult;
+import de.ids_mannheim.korap.query.DistanceConstraint;
+import de.ids_mannheim.korap.query.SpanDistanceQuery;
+import de.ids_mannheim.korap.query.SubspanQuery;
+
+
+public class TestSubSpanIndex {
+	
+	KorapResult kr;
+    KorapIndex ki;  
+    
+    @Test
+    public void testCase1() throws IOException {
+    	ki = new KorapIndex();
+		for (String i : new String[] {"AAA-12402"}) {
+		    ki.addDocFile(
+		        getClass().getResource("/wiki/" + i + ".json.gz").getFile(), true
+	            );
+		};
+		ki.commit();
+		
+		SpanDistanceQuery sdq = new SpanDistanceQuery(
+				new SpanTermQuery(new Term("tokens","cnx/p:N")), 
+				new SpanTermQuery(new Term("tokens","cnx/p:V")), 
+				new DistanceConstraint(5, 5, true, false), 
+				true);
+		
+		SubspanQuery ssq = new SubspanQuery(sdq, 0, 2, true);		
+		kr = ki.search(ssq, (short) 10);
+		
+		assertEquals(27,kr.getTotalResults());
+		assertEquals(30, kr.getMatch(0).getStartPos());
+        assertEquals(32, kr.getMatch(0).getEndPos());
+        assertEquals(81, kr.getMatch(1).getStartPos());
+        assertEquals(83, kr.getMatch(1).getEndPos());
+		
+		/*for (KorapMatch km : kr.getMatches()){
+			System.out.println(km.getStartPos() +","+km.getEndPos()
+					+km.getSnippetBrackets());
+		}*/
+		
+		ssq = new SubspanQuery(sdq, -2, 2, true);		
+		kr = ki.search(ssq, (short) 10);
+		
+		assertEquals(34, kr.getMatch(0).getStartPos());
+        assertEquals(35, kr.getMatch(0).getEndPos());
+        assertEquals(85, kr.getMatch(1).getStartPos());
+        assertEquals(87, kr.getMatch(1).getEndPos());
+	}
+}