Nominal and verbal style: preserve meaning when reformulating
Read formal noun phrases and express the same ideas as clear clauses. Keep reasons, contrasts, time references and the people carrying out actions visible.
A clause can package its information into a noun phrase: weil Unterlagen fehlen → wegen fehlender Unterlagen. The noun does not always come from a verb with -ung; das Prüfen is a nominalised infinitive, while prüfen → Prüfung is a separate word-formation pattern.
Choose the relationship before choosing the preposition. Weil gives a reason, so wegen or aufgrund may fit; obwohl expresses an unexpected contrast, so trotz may fit. Mangels introduces a lack. Replacing obwohl with wegen changes the reasoning, even if both sentences are grammatically possible.
This topic practises genitive after wegen, aufgrund, trotz and mangels in formal written examples. Case and adjective endings still matter. Dative after wegen occurs, particularly in speech; an exercise requesting formal genitive is not a claim that other usage never exists.
Keep the participants explicit: die Prüfung der Daten durch das Team names the data as what is checked and the team as the actor. A genitive alone can be ambiguous in other phrases. When converting back to a clause, do not invent an actor or change a duration into a deadline. Dense noun phrases are useful in some texts, but clearer clauses can be more accessible.
| Form | Beispiel |
|---|---|
| Grund | weil Angaben fehlen → wegen fehlender Angaben |
| Gegenerwartung | obwohl Kosten steigen → trotz steigender Kosten |
| handelnde Stelle | die Prüfung der Daten durch das Team |
| verständlicher Verbalstil | Das Team prüft die Daten. |
Examples
Wegen fehlender Unterlagen verzögert sich die Bearbeitung.
Processing is delayed because documents are missing.
Wegen expresses the reason for the delay.
Trotz steigender Kosten wird das Projekt fortgesetzt.
Despite rising costs, the project is being continued.
Trotz preserves the contrast with an expected obstacle.
Die Prüfung der Daten durch das Team dauert zwei Tage.
The team’s checking of the data takes two days.
Durch das Team explicitly identifies the actor.
Das Team prüft die Daten zwei Tage lang.
The team checks the data for two days.
The verb names the action directly, and zwei Tage lang keeps the duration.