German Grammar Explained /
Nominalization
Did you know the longest German word has 80 letters?! It's...
Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunter-beamtengesellschaft
It means: "association of subordinate officials of the head office management of the Danube steamboat electrical services".
You might want to memorize this one to show off your German skills at your next meet-up event.
Yes, we know learning vocabulary can be hard in German, with the many compound words, gender drama and overwhelming amount of consonants. But... we have a surprise for you today...
You can create a noun using any verb in German and they are always neuter!
aufstehen | → | das Aufstehen |
essen | → | das Essen |
laufen | → | das Laufen |
Das Aufstehen am frühen Morgen ist nicht so mein Ding.
Waking up early in the morning is not my thing.
Verbs and nouns can be merged into a noun as well.
Haare waschen | → | das Haarewaschen |
Auto fahren | → | das Autofahren |
zu Abend essen | → | das Abendessen |
You can use these nouns made out of verbs to express that two things are happening at the same time.
Ich singe und ich wasche meine Haare gleichzeitig.
Ich singe gerne beim Haarewaschen.
I like to sing while washing my hair.