Attributive Nebensätze
Attributive Nebensätze — for English Speakers
Introduction
Attributive subordinate clauses modify nouns with more complexity than basic relative clauses. They include 'Die Tatsache, dass...' (The fact that...), 'Die Frage, ob/inwieweit...' (The question whether/to what extent...), and infinitive attributive clauses. English has identical structures ('the fact that', 'the question whether'), making the concept very accessible. The German twist is verb-final word order within these clauses.
German vs English
In German
Die Tatsache, dass er gelogen hat, überraschte alle.
In English
The fact that he lied surprised everyone.
Key Difference
Structurally very similar — German just requires verb-final in the dass-clause.
In German
Der Vorschlag, den Termin zu verschieben, wurde angenommen.
In English
The proposal to postpone the meeting was accepted.
Key Difference
Both use infinitive attributive clauses; German places 'zu + infinitive' at the end.
Common Mistakes for English Speakers
Die Frage, inwieweit stimmt das, bleibt offen.
Using main-clause word order after inwieweit — it's a subordinate clause, so the verb goes to the end.
Die Tatsache, dass er hat gelogen, überraschte alle.
Putting 'hat' before 'gelogen' — in subordinate clauses, the auxiliary goes after the participle at the end.
Practice Examples
Die Frage, ob das sinnvoll ist, wurde diskutiert.
The question whether that makes sense was discussed.
Die Idee, eine Pause zu machen, gefiel allen.
The idea of taking a break appealed to everyone.
Die Nachricht, dass er kommt, hat mich gefreut.
The news that he's coming made me happy.
Memory Tip
Attributive clauses describe nouns the way adjectives do — they just use an entire clause instead of a single word.
View Grammar Rule
Attributive Nebensätze
Attributive Nebensätze — B2
Practice Exercises
Attributive Nebensätze Übungen
8 exercises
Other Languages
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