B1Phase B1.2

Nominalization (-ung/-heit/-keit)

Nominalisierung

Creating nouns from verbs (-ung) and adjectives (-heit, -keit, -nis). Very common in formal German.

Key Vocabulary

BedeutungErklärungMöglichkeit

Patterns

  • -ung, -heit, -keit nouns
  • Capitalized 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 nominalization.

Prerequisites

You should be comfortable with these concepts first:

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