Phase B1.2
Nominalization (-ung/-heit/-keit)
Nominalisierung
Creating nouns from verbs (-ung) and adjectives (-heit, -keit, -nis). Very common in formal German.
Key words
BedeutungErklärungMöglichkeit
Patterns
- -ung, -heit, -keit nouns
- Capitalised adjectives/participles as nouns
- Unpack dense noun phrases into clauses when reading
Common pitfalls
- Dense noun clusters reduce readability
- Overuse makes prose heavy
Examples
Nach der Zerstörung begann der Wiederaufbau.
After the destruction, rebuilding began.
Practice
Take a sentence with two verbs and rewrite it using one nominalisation.
Prerequisites
You should be comfortable with these concepts first: