Nominalstil, Passiv und Modalität
Chapter Overview and Objectives
Chapter 17 continues Unit IV by turning from sentence architecture to sentence style. Tobias's revised newsletter paragraph from Chapter 16 was clear, but Frau Aksoy has now asked him to help edit a much drier document: the district cultural office's official funding notice, which must be adapted into a short institutional summary for the neighborhood association's records. That text leans heavily on nominal style — dense noun phrases built from verbs — and uses the passive voice throughout to keep the writing impersonal and official-sounding. This chapter teaches learners to recognize nominal style, convert it deliberately into verbal style and back again, use the passive voice and its common alternatives to express objectivity or stance, and judge when each style choice actually serves the reader.
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Identify nominalizations in a German text and expand them back into full clauses.
- Convert verbal-style sentences into nominal style and nominal-style sentences into verbal style without changing the meaning.
- Use the passive voice, the impersonal man, and modal-passive alternatives (lässt sich, ist zu + infinitive) to express objectivity, stance, or possibility/necessity.
- Use modal verbs to signal certainty, doubt, obligation, and recommendation in institutional and analytical prose.
- Revise an overly nominal, impersonal passage so that it remains appropriately formal but is easier to read.
- Explain, using accurate terminology, why a specific style choice suits or does not suit a given audience and genre.
Opening Scenario
Frau Aksoy hands Tobias the official funding notice from the district cultural office and asks him to prepare two things: a short, faithful record of it for the association's archive, written in a style close to the original, and a friendlier one-paragraph summary for residents who find the original notice hard to follow. Reading the notice together, they notice that almost every sentence turns a verb into a noun — die Förderung instead of man fördert, die Überprüfung instead of man überprüft — and that the passive voice appears in nearly every clause, so that no one seems to be doing anything. Tobias must decide, sentence by sentence, which version of German best serves each audience.
- Learn to recognize and unpack nominal style in official prose.
- Practice converting between nominal and verbal style.
- Study the passive voice, man, and modal-passive alternatives for stance and objectivity.
- Produce both a faithful archive record and a reader-friendly summary of the official notice.
Core Vocabulary
This chapter's vocabulary names style choices rather than a new topic domain. Recycle Unit III and Chapter 16 vocabulary (the courtyard, the funding decision, the presentation) as content for the practice sentences.
Stil und Register — Style and Register
- der Nominalstil (Singular) — nominal style
- der Verbalstil (Singular) — verbal style
- die Nominalisierung, die Nominalisierungen — nominalization
- die Sachlichkeit (Singular) — objectivity, matter-of-factness
- unpersönlich — impersonal
Passiv und Alternativen — Passive and Alternatives
- das Passiv (Singular) — the passive voice
- der Vorgang, die Vorgänge — process, procedure
- der Urheber, die Urheber — agent, originator (of an action)
- sich lassen + Infinitiv — modal-passive alternative (can be done)
- sein + zu + Infinitiv — modal-passive alternative (is to be done)
Modalität und Haltung — Modality and Stance
- die Haltung, die Haltungen — stance, attitude
- vermutlich — presumably
- voraussichtlich — as expected, foreseeably
- verbindlich — binding, mandatory
- unverbindlich — non-binding, informal
Institutionelle Prosa — Institutional Prose
- der Bescheid, die Bescheide — official notice, ruling
- die Auflage, die Auflagen — condition, requirement (official)
- die Frist, die Fristen — deadline
- der Antrag, die Anträge — application, request
- zuständig (für + Akk.) — responsible (for)
Gender and plural are given for every active noun above; verbs appear in the infinitive since core conjugation was consolidated in earlier chapters.
Pronunciation Focus: Rhythm of Nominal-Style Sentences
Nominal-style sentences often stack several nouns and their modifiers before the finite verb finally appears, so the reader has to hold a long subject or object in mind before the sentence resolves. When reading such a sentence aloud, it helps to give the head noun of a long compound noun phrase slightly more stress than its modifiers, and to take a small breath at each major noun-phrase boundary rather than only at commas. This does not change any rule of German stress; it applies stress and pacing control from earlier volumes specifically to the longer noun phrases typical of institutional and analytical writing.
Reading a nominal-style sentence aloud slowly, then reading its verbal-style paraphrase aloud immediately afterward, is a useful way to hear how nominal style shifts the rhythm and weight of a sentence even when the meaning stays the same.
Grammar and Sentence Patterns
Nominal Style: Turning Verbs into Nouns
Nominal style replaces a finite verb and its arguments with a noun phrase, usually built from the verb stem plus a suffix such as -ung, -heit, -keit, or a related derived noun, combined with a genitive or prepositional phrase in place of the original subject or object. Nominal style is common in reports, official notices, academic prose, and instructions because it can compress information and sound more objective, but it can also make a text harder to follow if overused.
Unpacking a nominalization means asking three questions: What is the underlying verb? Who or what performs the action, if that information is recoverable? What is the object or result of the action? Answering these questions turns dense nominal style back into clear verbal style.
- die Förderung des Projekts → man fördert das Projekt / die Kulturbehörde fördert das Projekt the funding of the project → [someone/the cultural office] funds the project nominalization unpacked with recovered or generic agent
- die Entscheidung der Behörde → die Behörde entscheidet the authority's decision → the authority decides genitive phrase supplies the agent directly
Passive Voice and Its Alternatives
The passive voice (werden + past participle) shifts focus away from the agent of an action and onto the process or result, which suits objective, procedural, or agent-unknown contexts. German has several closely related alternatives that express similar meanings with different nuances.
- Der Antrag wird geprüft. The application is being reviewed. plain passive: process in progress, agent omitted
- Man prüft den Antrag. They (people in general/the office) review the application. impersonal man: agent present but unspecified, more informal than passive
- Der Antrag lässt sich nicht mehr ändern. The application can no longer be changed. sich lassen + infinitive: expresses possibility, similar to a modal + passive
- Der Antrag ist bis Freitag einzureichen. The application is to be submitted by Friday. sein + zu + infinitive: expresses necessity or obligation, common in official instructions
Plain passive with werden is the most neutral and widely usable option. Man is somewhat less formal and works well in speech and everyday writing. Sich lassen + infinitive specifically expresses possibility ("can be done"), while sein + zu + infinitive specifically expresses necessity or obligation ("is to be done," "must be done"). Choosing among them is a stance decision, not simply a stylistic ornament.
Modal Verbs for Stance
Beyond ability, permission, and obligation, modal verbs let a writer signal how certain, tentative, or committed a claim is, which matters in analytical and institutional prose where overclaiming is a real risk.
- Die Entscheidung dürfte vielen Anwohnern gefallen. The decision will presumably please many residents. dürfte: cautious, probability-marking use of the subjunctive of dürfen
- Weitere Erhebungen sollen im Herbst folgen. Further surveys are supposed to/scheduled to follow in the fall. sollen: reports a plan or requirement without the speaker vouching for it personally
- Die Behörde muss die Auflagen bis zur Frist erfüllen. The authority must meet the conditions by the deadline. müssen: firm obligation, appropriate for binding requirements
Error: *Die Entscheidung wird vielen Anwohnern gefallen. states a future fact where the source text is clearly hedging a prediction.
Correction: Die Entscheidung dürfte vielen Anwohnern gefallen. or Die Entscheidung wird vermutlich vielen Anwohnern gefallen. preserves the original degree of certainty.
Genitive and Prepositional Noun Phrases in Nominal Style
Nominal style depends heavily on genitive phrases and prepositional phrases to carry information that a verbal sentence would put in subject, object, or adverbial position.
- die Überprüfung der Unterlagen durch die Behörde the review of the documents by the authority genitive phrase (object) + durch-phrase (agent), typical of formal nominal style
- nach Ablauf der Frist after the deadline has passed / after expiry of the deadline prepositional phrase replacing an entire temporal clause
Model Text: Official Notice and Two Rewrites
The original official notice (dense nominal style, passive throughout), Tobias's faithful archive record, and his reader-friendly summary.
Guided Practice
- Underline every nominalization in the Bescheid paragraph above and write the underlying verb for each.
- Rewrite this nominal-style sentence in verbal style, supplying a reasonable agent: Die Bearbeitung des Antrags dauert voraussichtlich zwei Wochen.
- Rewrite this verbal-style sentence in nominal style: Man hat die Verkehrsdaten sorgfältig ausgewertet.
- Rewrite using sein + zu + Infinitiv: Man muss den Bericht bis zum 30. September einreichen.
- Choose the modal verb that best matches the intended certainty: Die weiteren Ergebnisse ___ (dürfen/müssen/sollen) im Frühjahr vorliegen, where the office has only announced a plan, not a guarantee.
Listening Practice
Ask a partner, instructor, or text-to-speech tool to read the following passage aloud. Listen once for overall meaning, then again while marking every passive verb form and every clear nominalization you hear.
Kurzmitteilung der Kulturbehörde — Listening Script
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, die Bearbeitung Ihres Antrags ist abgeschlossen. Nach Prüfung der Unterlagen wurde die Förderung bewilligt, wobei die jährliche Berichterstattung als Auflage gilt. Der erste Bericht ist bis zum 30. September einzureichen. Eine Überprüfung der Umsetzung erfolgt nach Ablauf von zwölf Monaten; weitere Rückfragen lassen sich jederzeit an das zuständige Referat richten. Die endgültigen Ergebnisse dürften im kommenden Frühjahr vorliegen.
Verständnisfragen
1. Was muss die Initiative bis zum 30. September tun, und was passiert nach zwölf Monaten?
2. Find one example each of plain passive, sich lassen + infinitive, and sein + zu + infinitive in the passage, and explain what each communicates.
3. Wie sicher klingt der letzte Satz, und woran erkennt man das?
Speaking Practice
Aufgabe: Stilentscheidungen begründen
Working with a partner or recording yourself, choose one sentence from the official notice in the Model Text section. Explain aloud what the underlying verbal-style sentence would be, who the likely agent is, and why the original writer chose nominal style or the passive voice instead. Then explain, sentence by sentence, one choice you made when writing the reader-friendly summary and why.
Rolle: Erklärende Person
- Identify one nominalization and unpack it into a verbal-style clause.
- Explain whether the passive or an alternative (man, lässt sich, sein + zu) would communicate the same idea and how the nuance would change.
- Justify one specific stylistic choice made in your own summary.
Rolle: Zuhörende Person
- Ask who the likely agent is behind a passive sentence.
- Ask whether a modal verb in the text signals certainty or only a plan.
- Give one honest reaction: did the summary feel appropriately formal, or too casual?
Bewertungshinweise — Speaking Criteria
- Correctly unpacks at least one nominalization into a verbal-style clause.
- Accurately distinguishes the passive, man, lässt sich, and sein + zu alternatives.
- Explains at least one stylistic choice and its effect on audience fit.
- Comprehensible pronunciation and pacing, with appropriate stress on noun-phrase heads.
Solo alternative: Record yourself analyzing the official notice and then explaining your own summary, and listen back for accuracy and clarity of explanation.
Reading Practice
Zur weiteren Bearbeitung
Zur Vorbereitung des Jahresberichts sind folgende Schritte zu unternehmen: Erstens ist eine Zusammenfassung der bisherigen Fördermaßnahmen zu erstellen, wobei besonders auf die Auflagen einzugehen ist. Zweitens lässt sich die Wirkung des Projekts anhand der vorliegenden Verkehrsdaten grob einschätzen, auch wenn eine abschließende Bewertung erst nach der zweiten Erhebung möglich sein dürfte. Drittens sollen die Anwohnerinnen und Anwohner über den aktuellen Stand informiert werden, entweder durch die Zusammenfassung im Newsletter oder durch einen offenen Abend. Über die endgültige Form der Information entscheidet die Initiative selbst.
Verständnisfragen
1. Welche drei Schritte werden für die Vorbereitung des Jahresberichts genannt?
2. Find the two instances of sein + zu + infinitive and the one instance of sich lassen + infinitive, and explain the difference in meaning between them.
3. Was bedeutet dürfte im dritten Satz für die Verlässlichkeit der Einschätzung?
Writing Workshop
Using the official notice from the Model Text section as your source, write your own faithful archive record (approximately 60–90 words, close to the original register) and your own reader-friendly summary (approximately 60–100 words, in accessible verbal style), each using at least one nominalization-to-verb conversion and at least one modal verb chosen deliberately for its degree of certainty or obligation.
Kontext für die Schreibaufgabe
Schreiben Sie zunächst eine sachliche Zusammenfassung des Bescheids für das Archiv, die nah am Original bleibt, aber mindestens eine Nominalisierung in einen Verbalsatz umwandelt. Schreiben Sie danach eine freundlichere Zusammenfassung für den Newsletter, die dieselben Informationen enthält, aber leichter zu lesen ist. Verwenden Sie in beiden Texten mindestens ein Modalverb, das die richtige Sicherheit oder Verbindlichkeit ausdrückt.
- List every nominalization and passive construction in the source notice.
- Decide, for each one, who the likely agent is.
- Draft the archive record, keeping formal register but restoring at least one agent.
- Draft the reader-friendly summary in short verbal-style sentences.
- Check that each modal verb you used matches the intended certainty or obligation.
- Read both versions aloud and confirm the register difference is audible, not just visible.
Revision checklist:
- Is at least one nominalization correctly unpacked into a verbal clause?
- Does at least one modal verb clearly signal the intended certainty or obligation?
- Does the archive record remain appropriately formal?
- Does the newsletter summary remain accurate but easier to read?
- Have I avoided losing any factual detail from the original notice?
Culture and Communication
Dense nominal style and heavy passive use are genuinely common in German official notices, legal texts, and some academic prose, but this reflects genre convention rather than a general property of German. The same writer will often use short, direct, verbal-style sentences in an email to a colleague or a message to residents. Recognizing which genre calls for which style is part of register competence, not a fixed national trait of the language.
Many public institutions in German-speaking countries have adopted plain-language guidelines that specifically encourage reducing unnecessary nominal style and passive constructions in citizen-facing communication, while retaining precise nominal style where it genuinely aids clarity, such as in legally binding conditions. Bureaucratic style should not be treated as the single correct model of professional German.
Common Mistakes to Recheck
Error: *Die Förderung wurde bewilligt. leaves the reader unsure who approved the funding, when that information is relevant to the audience.
Correction: Die Kulturbehörde hat die Förderung bewilligt. restores the agent when the reader needs to know who acted.
Error: *Der Antrag lässt sich bis Freitag einreichen when the deadline is a requirement, not merely a possibility.
Correction: Der Antrag ist bis Freitag einzureichen. correctly expresses obligation rather than mere possibility.
Error: *Die Ergebnisse werden im Frühjahr vorliegen. when the source only announces an expectation, not a certainty.
Correction: Die Ergebnisse dürften im Frühjahr vorliegen. or Die Ergebnisse sollen im Frühjahr vorliegen. preserves the original degree of certainty.
Chapter Summary
Chapter 17 continued Unit IV by teaching learners to recognize and control nominal style: unpacking nominalizations into verbal clauses, converting between nominal and verbal style in both directions, and using the passive voice alongside its common alternatives — man, sich lassen + infinitive, and sein + zu + infinitive — to express objectivity, possibility, or obligation with the right nuance. Learners also practiced using modal verbs to signal degrees of certainty and commitment, and revised a dense official notice into both a faithful archive record and an accessible reader-friendly summary, considering when institutional style serves clarity and when it works against it.
Chapter Review
Before moving to Chapter 18, confirm that you can:
Analyse
- identify nominalizations and unpack them into verbal clauses;
- distinguish the passive, man, sich lassen, and sein + zu alternatives; and
- judge whether a modal verb signals certainty, plan, or obligation.
Produktion
- convert between nominal and verbal style accurately;
- choose the passive alternative that matches the intended meaning; and
- revise institutional prose for a general audience without losing content.
Practical Performance Task
Kapitel 17 — Praktische Aufgabe
Vom Bescheid zur Mitteilung — Style Transformation Task
Complete a short sequence of tasks that takes an official notice through analysis, spoken justification, and two written rewrites.
1. Stil analysieren
Underline nominalizations and passive forms in the Model Text notice and identify the likely agent for each.
2. Hörtext verstehen
Complete the Listening Practice comprehension questions.
3. Wahl begründen
Complete the Speaking Practice explanation and dialogue.
4. Texte umschreiben
Complete the Writing Workshop archive record and newsletter summary.
| Criterion | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Nominal-style analysis | Nominalizations are correctly identified and unpacked into verbal clauses |
| Passive alternatives | Passive, man, sich lassen, and sein + zu are used and distinguished accurately |
| Modal precision | Modal verbs match the intended certainty, plan, or obligation of the source |
| Register control | The archive record stays formal; the newsletter summary stays accessible |
| Content preservation | Both rewrites preserve all factual content from the original notice |
Answer Key
Guided Practice
- Nominalizations: Prüfung (prüfen), Berücksichtigung (berücksichtigen), Förderung (fördern), Berichterstattung (berichten), Überprüfung (überprüfen), Umsetzung (umsetzen).
- Sample answer: Die Behörde bearbeitet den Antrag voraussichtlich zwei Wochen lang.
- Sample answer: Die sorgfältige Auswertung der Verkehrsdaten ist erfolgt.
- Der Bericht ist bis zum 30. September einzureichen.
- sollen is the best fit (Die weiteren Ergebnisse sollen im Frühjahr vorliegen), since the office has announced a plan rather than guaranteed an outcome; dürfte is also acceptable if framed as the writer's own cautious estimate rather than a report of the office's plan.
Listening Practice — Comprehension Questions
- Die Initiative muss den ersten Bericht bis zum 30. September einreichen; nach zwölf Monaten überprüft die Behörde die Umsetzung des Projekts.
- Plain passive: die Förderung bewilligt wurde (process/result emphasized, agent omitted). Sich lassen: Rückfragen lassen sich ... richten (expresses that this is possible/available). Sein + zu: Der erste Bericht ist ... einzureichen (expresses an obligation/requirement).
- Relatively cautious: dürften signals a probable but not guaranteed outcome, softer than a plain future tense would sound.
Reading Practice — Comprehension Questions
- Erstens eine Zusammenfassung der Fördermaßnahmen, zweitens eine grobe Einschätzung der Projektwirkung anhand der Verkehrsdaten, drittens die Information der Anwohnerinnen und Anwohner über den aktuellen Stand.
- Sein + zu: sind ... zu unternehmen and ist ... zu erstellen (both express what must be done as part of the preparation). Sich lassen: lässt sich ... einschätzen (expresses that a rough assessment is possible, not that it must be done). The difference is obligation versus mere possibility.
- Dürfte signals that a final assessment being possible only after the second survey is a reasonable expectation, not a certainty, so the reliability of any early estimate should be treated with some caution.
Speaking and Writing
Open production. Evaluate using the performance task criteria table above, with particular attention to nominal-style analysis, correct use of passive alternatives, modal precision, and appropriate register control across the two rewrites.
Independent Study Tools
Für Selbstlerner
- Find an official or institutional German text online and mark every nominalization you can find.
- Rewrite one paragraph of institutional prose (real or from this chapter) as a short, friendly summary.
- Read a passive-heavy sentence aloud, then read your own man/lässt sich/sein + zu paraphrase aloud, and compare the tone.
Selbstüberprüfung
- Can I unpack a nominalization into a full verbal clause?
- Do I know when to use sich lassen versus sein + zu?
- Do I choose modal verbs that match the real degree of certainty I intend?
Looking Ahead
Was Sie nach Kapitel 17 können — What you can do after Chapter 17
You can now recognize and deliberately choose between nominal and verbal style, use the passive voice and its alternatives with appropriate nuance, and select modal verbs that accurately reflect certainty or obligation, so that formal and institutional German serves its audience rather than obscuring meaning. These skills prepare you for Chapter 18, which turns to translation, mediation, and editing between English and German.