Nominalstil — Turning Sentences into Noun Phrases
B2German newspapers convert whole clauses into compact noun packages: 'Weil es regnete' becomes 'wegen des Regens'. Learn the preposition swaps and where the verbs hide inside the nouns.
Why German zooms in on nouns
Written German — news, law, contracts, every letter from your Bürgeramt — prefers the Nominalstil: instead of a subject doing a verb, you get heavy nouns sitting in a row like museum exhibits. This is the single biggest style jump from B1 to B2, because suddenly your trusty weil-clause gives way to wegen plus a Genitiv noun. The trick is a mechanical one-to-one swap between conjunction and preposition, and the case rides along with the preposition.
| Clause | Noun phrase |
|---|---|
| weil es regnete | wegen des Regens |
| obwohl es teuer war | trotz des hohen Preises |
| wenn man bedenkt, dass... | in Anbetracht dessen, dass... |
| damit man effizienter arbeitet | zur effizienteren Arbeit |
| nachdem die Verhandlung endete | nach dem Ende der Verhandlung |
Beispiele — examples in context
Wegen des schlechten Wetters wurde das Konzert abgesagt.
Because of the bad weather, the concert was cancelled.
Trotz der Herausforderungen hat das Team die Frist eingehalten.
Despite the challenges, the team met the deadline.
The verbs hiding inside the nouns
German nouns are frequently verbs in disguise, wearing one of a few standard masks. Once you know the masks, you can reverse-engineer vocabulary at scale: untersuchen becomes die Untersuchung, möglich becomes die Möglichkeit. The -ung is the great verb-to-noun machine, while -heit, -keit, -schaft, -nis and -um build nouns from adjectives and other nouns.
| Suffix | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| -ung | untersuchen (verb) | die Untersuchung |
| -heit | möglich (adjective) | die Möglichkeit |
| -keit | fähig (adjective) | die Fähigkeit |
| -schaft | der Partner (noun) | die Partnerschaft |
| -nis | ergeben (verb) | das Ergebnis |
Beispiele — examples in context
Die Entwicklung der Gesellschaft hängt von der Bildung ihrer Mitglieder ab.
The development of society depends on the education of its members.
Zur Verringerung der Auswirkungen auf die Umwelt brauchen wir mehr Einsicht.
To reduce the impact on the environment, we need more insight.
How to read — and when NOT to write — Nominalstil
Reading strategy: find the article of the heavy noun phrase, find its verb, and treat everything between as decoration you can postpone. The Genitiv chains ('die Verlängerung der Fristen der Kunden') are read right-to-left, like unwrapping a parcel. But here is the cultural note: journalists and lawyers write this way, not because it's beautiful, but because it's compact. In your own writing, one heavy noun phrase per sentence is plenty.
Beispiele — examples in context
Die Prüfung der Unterlagen durch die Behörde erfolgt innerhalb von sechs Wochen.
The examination of the documents by the authority takes place within six weeks.
Nach Abschluss der Verhandlungen wurde eine Verlängerung der Zahlungsfrist vereinbart.
After the conclusion of the negotiations, an extension of the payment deadline was agreed.