Reference · module 33
Making a case
Everything this module explains, on one page.
Stating a position
Open an argument so people keep listening.
- Ich bin der Ansicht, dass … and Ich vertrete die Meinung, dass … are the formal openings. Both take the genitive-looking der and both are fixed.
- Softer: Ich würde sagen, dass … or Mir scheint, dass … They claim less and are much harder to argue with, which is often the point.
- In all of them the verb goes to the end of the dass clause, exactly as it has since B1. The register changes; the grammar underneath does not.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich denke, dass das ist teuer.
Ich denke, dass das teuer ist.
The register goes up but the grammar underneath stays: dass still sends the verb to the end. A formal opening is exactly where that gets forgotten.
Meeting an objection
Concede what is true and answer what is not.
- The strongest move is to concede first: Da haben Sie recht, allerdings … Nobody listens to the second half until the first has been said.
- allerdings and jedoch both mean however and both take first place: Allerdings ist das teuer. jedoch is the more formal of the two.
- To reject a point without rejecting the person: Das sehe ich anders, and then a reason. A reason turns disagreement into a discussion.
The mistake you are about to make
Allerdings das ist teuer.
Allerdings ist das teuer.
"However" in English stands outside the sentence with a comma after it. Allerdings stands inside, holding the first slot, so the verb comes next.
Evidence and examples
Support a claim with something a listener can check.
- beispielsweise is the written zum Beispiel, and it sits inside the sentence rather than at its front: Viele Städte, beispielsweise Leipzig, wachsen wieder.
- Numbers need a frame: Die Zahl ist um zehn Prozent gestiegen. um for the size of a change, auf for the level it reached.
- Then draw the conclusion out loud: Daraus folgt, dass … Nobody has to agree with your conclusion, but they should be able to see how you got there.
The mistake you are about to make
Die Zahl ist bei zehn Prozent gestiegen.
Die Zahl ist um zehn Prozent gestiegen.
"Risen by" and "risen to" are one word apart in English; in German they are um and auf, and "by" maps neatly onto neither.
Finishing well
Close an argument without repeating it.
- Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass … is the standard close of a written argument. Abschließend and letztlich do the same job more briefly.
- A good close returns to the question rather than to the evidence. And it may leave a door open: Ob das reicht, wird sich zeigen.
The mistake you are about to make
Zusammenfassend es lässt sich sagen …
Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen …
Zusammenfassend fills the first slot, so the verb follows it. And there is no es in this phrase at all, however much "it can be said" wants to put one there.