C1 · Fine points and style
Noun–verb phrases: zur Verfügung stellen
eine Entscheidung treffen, in Frage kommen, zum Ausdruck bringen
A noun carries the meaning, a pale verb carries the grammar — and the pair is fixed.
At a glance
- Remember
- Learn the noun and its verb as one expression.
- Form
- zur Verfügung stellenmake available
- Signal words
- stellen
- bringen
- kommen
- nehmen
- treffen
- finden
- stehen
- geraten
- Trap
- Wrong:Wir müssen bald eine Entscheidung machen.Right:Wir müssen bald eine Entscheidung treffen.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| make available | zur Verfügung stellen |
| decide | eine Entscheidung treffen |
| be an option | in Frage kommen |
| express | zum Ausdruck bringen |
| show consideration | Rücksicht nehmen auf |
| set off / get going | in Gang bringen, in Gang kommen |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The meaning sits in the noun; the verb only carries tense and person.
Wir stellen Ihnen einen Laptop zur Verfügung.We will provide you with a laptop.
The verb is fixed by convention and cannot be swapped for a synonym.
Sie hat eine Entscheidung getroffen.She has made a decision.
Many pairs have an active and a passive partner.
Das Thema steht morgen zur Diskussion.The topic is up for discussion tomorrow.
nicht stands before the prepositional part; a noun on its own is negated with kein.
Das kommt nicht in Frage.That is out of the question.
Example sentences
Der Vorschlag fand breite Zustimmung.The proposal met with broad approval.
Er brachte seine Sorge zum Ausdruck.He expressed his concern.
Bitte nehmen Sie Rücksicht auf die Nachbarn.Please be considerate of the neighbours.
Die Reform tritt im Januar in Kraft.The reform comes into force in January.
Wir müssen die Sache endlich in Gang bringen.We finally have to get things moving.
6 more example sentences
Das kommt überhaupt nicht in Frage.That is completely out of the question.
Die Firma stellt den Mitarbeitern Parkplätze zur Verfügung.The company provides parking spaces for its staff.
Sie stellte eine wichtige Frage.She asked an important question.
Er geriet in Schwierigkeiten.He got into difficulties.
Wir nehmen Ihr Angebot gern in Anspruch.We are glad to take up your offer.
Der Plan steht noch zur Diskussion.The plan is still under discussion.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English "make a decision" invites machen, and the result is understood but sounds translated. The verb in these pairs is not chosen for its meaning — it has hardly any left — but by convention, and the convention differs from language to language. The only reliable method is to learn noun and verb together, the way a dictionary lists them.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Formal German often replaces a simple verb with a noun and a verb that has lost most of its own meaning: zur Verfügung stellen for bereitstellen, eine Entscheidung treffen for entscheiden, in Frage kommen for "be an option". Such combinations are called Funktionsverbgefüge, and the verbs in them — bringen, kommen, stellen, nehmen, treffen, finden, stehen — work almost like auxiliaries.
The pairs are fixed and have to be learned as units. A decision is made with treffen, not machen; consideration is shown with nehmen: Rücksicht nehmen, in Anspruch nehmen. The noun keeps its preposition and article exactly as listed — zur Sprache bringen, never zu der Sprache.
They are not just padding. Several pairs express something the simple verb cannot: in Gang bringen and in Gang kommen separate setting a process off from the process starting, and many have a passive partner — zur Diskussion stellen (put up for discussion) beside zur Diskussion stehen (be under discussion). Recognising them is essential for reading; using a few well is a mark of advanced writing.
A closer look
Causing, happening, being
The verbs in these pairs form a small system. Bringen and stellen make something happen, kommen and geraten describe it happening, stehen and sein describe the state that results: etwas in Bewegung bringen, in Bewegung kommen, in Bewegung sein. Once the pattern is noticed, a new pair can often be understood at first sight.
Geraten adds that the change was unwanted: in Schwierigkeiten geraten, in Vergessenheit geraten. Nobody gerät into something pleasant, which makes the verb a useful signal while reading.
Exceptions and special cases (2)
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a simple verb exists beside the pair
the simple verb is usually better in speech.
Wir haben uns entschieden.We have decided.
The pairs belong to formal registers; in conversation they sound stiff.
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the noun stands without a preposition
it is negated with kein, like any other noun.
Er hat keine Rücksicht genommen.He showed no consideration.
The noun is still a noun, even when the verb beside it has lost its meaning.
Worth knowing (2)
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in Frage or infrage
Several of these phrases may be written as one word or two: infrage kommen and in Frage kommen, zurate ziehen and zu Rate ziehen. Both spellings are correct; it is enough to recognise them as the same phrase.
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Why official letters like them
A noun–verb phrase lets a sentence leave out who acts: Die Arbeiten werden in Angriff genommen names nobody. That impersonality suits an official letter, and it is one reason these pairs gather in administrative prose — and one reason style guides recommend the plain verb wherever a person can be named.
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