C1 · Fine points and style
Nominal and verbal style
wegen seiner Krankheit — weil er krank war
Written German packs whole clauses into nouns; reading it and unpacking it are the same skill.
At a glance
- Remember
- A clause takes a conjunction, a noun takes a preposition — never the other way round.
- Form
- wegen des schlechten Wettersweil → wegen
- Signal words
- wegen
- trotz
- bei
- nach
- vor
- zur
- durch
- infolge
- Trap
- Wrong:Wegen er krank war, blieb er zu Hause.Right:Wegen seiner Krankheit blieb er zu Hause.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in German.
| weil → wegen | wegen des schlechten Wetters |
| obwohl → trotz | trotz seiner Erfahrung |
| wenn → bei | bei Regen |
| nachdem → nach | nach der Ankunft des Zuges |
| bevor → vor | vor Beginn der Sitzung |
| um … zu → zu | zur Verbesserung der Qualität |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
A conjunction becomes a preposition with a matching meaning.
Wegen der Verspätung verpassten wir den Anschluss.Because of the delay we missed the connection.
The subject of the verb becomes a genitive or a possessive.
Nach seiner Rückkehr suchte er eine Wohnung.After his return he looked for a flat.
The object of the verb becomes a genitive after the noun.
Die Prüfung der Unterlagen dauert eine Woche.Checking the documents takes a week.
An adverb becomes an adjective with an ending.
Bei schneller Reaktion lässt sich der Schaden begrenzen.With a quick response the damage can be limited.
Example sentences
Trotz intensiver Suche wurde der Schlüssel nicht gefunden.Despite an intensive search the key was not found.
Bei Nichtgefallen erhalten Sie Ihr Geld zurück.If you are not satisfied, you will get your money back.
Vor Beginn der Vorstellung bitte die Handys ausschalten.Please switch off your phones before the performance begins.
Die Einführung des neuen Systems hat sich verzögert.The introduction of the new system has been delayed.
Zur Vermeidung von Missverständnissen fassen wir kurz zusammen.To avoid misunderstandings, we will briefly sum up.
6 more example sentences
Infolge des Streiks fielen viele Flüge aus.Many flights were cancelled as a result of the strike.
Während der Bauarbeiten bleibt die Straße gesperrt.The road remains closed during the building work.
Mit Beginn des Semesters ändern sich die Öffnungszeiten.The opening hours change at the start of term.
Nach Eingang der Zahlung wird die Ware verschickt.The goods are dispatched once payment has been received.
Durch regelmäßiges Üben wird man sicherer.Regular practice makes you more confident.
Für die Verlängerung des Visums brauchen Sie einen Termin.You need an appointment to extend the visa.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Wegen is a preposition and cannot introduce a clause; weil is a conjunction and cannot govern a noun. They are partners across the two styles, not synonyms: a clause needs weil and the verb at the end, a noun phrase needs wegen and the genitive. The same holds for trotz and obwohl, nach and nachdem, vor and bevor.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Official, academic and journalistic German prefers nouns where speech uses verbs. Weil er krank war becomes wegen seiner Krankheit; nachdem der Vertrag unterschrieben worden war becomes nach Unterzeichnung des Vertrags. This is called the nominal style, and it is the main reason a German report reads so differently from a German conversation.
The conversion is systematic. A subordinate clause becomes a prepositional phrase: weil becomes wegen, obwohl becomes trotz, wenn becomes bei, nachdem becomes nach, bevor becomes vor, um … zu becomes zu or für. The verb turns into a noun, its subject into a genitive or a possessive, its object into a genitive, and an adverb into an adjective: als er schnell reagierte becomes bei seiner schnellen Reaktion.
At this level the skill runs in both directions. Reading means unpacking a dense noun phrase back into who did what; writing means choosing the style that suits the text. The nominal style is compact and impersonal, the verbal style clearer and livelier — a good text uses each where it helps, and a sentence with four nominalisations in a row is a sentence nobody wants to read.
A closer look
Unpacking a dense sentence
A sentence in nominal style becomes readable once it is turned back into clauses one noun at a time. Nach erfolgter Prüfung Ihres Antrags durch die zuständige Stelle erhalten Sie einen Bescheid has one real verb and several nouns doing the work of verbs. Unpacked: Nachdem die zuständige Stelle Ihren Antrag geprüft hat, erhalten Sie einen Bescheid.
The procedure is mechanical: find the nouns ending in -ung, -heit or -keit or built from an infinitive, ask which verb each one comes from, and find its subject in the genitive or after durch or von. Once the actors are back in place, the sentence says plainly who does what.
Exceptions and special cases (2)
-
the noun is a plural with no article or adjective
von replaces the genitive.
die Reparatur von Fahrrädernthe repair of bicycles
A bare plural cannot show the genitive, so the phrase would be unreadable without von.
-
the verb has no suitable noun
the nominalised infinitive takes over.
beim Einsteigen in den Zugwhen getting on the train
Every verb can become a neuter noun, even where no -ung form exists.
Worth knowing (2)
-
The genitive chain
Nominal style stacks genitives: die Verbesserung der Qualität der Ausbildung. Two in a row are normal in written German; three are a sign that the sentence wants to be a clause again. Style guides advise breaking such chains up, and so does anybody who has to read them aloud.
-
Not every -ung is an action
Many nouns in -ung have drifted from the action to its result or to a thing: die Wohnung is a flat and die Zeitung a newspaper. Unpacking works for the transparent ones — Prüfung, Lieferung, Einführung — and not for those that have become ordinary nouns.
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