A Foundation Course in Reading German, 2017a

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12/8/2017
In Unit 5 we dealt with the formation of nouns from verbs and common adjectives.
Now we will look at the formation of verbs from adjectives and their different
forms. For example:
breit (broad, wide)
ganz (whole)
größer (bigger)
länger (longer)
klar (clear)
rot (red)
verbreiten (to broaden, widen)
ergänzen (to make whole, complete)
vergrößern (to make bigger, increase)
verlängern (to make larger, lengthen)
erklären (to make clear, explain)
erröten ( to make red, blush)
As you can see we have used a simple adjective in its comparative form to make a
verb by adding a prefix and the infinitive ending –n or –en.
Formation of Nouns from More Verbs
German also changes verbs into nouns by capitalizing the word and adding a noun
ending. Thus, using some of our examples from above:
verbreiten (to broaden)
ergänzen (to make whole)
vergrößern (to make bigger)
verlängern (to make larger)
erklären (to make clear)
Verbreiterung (widening)
Ergänzung (completion)
Vergrößerung (enlargement)
Verlängerung (lengthening)
Erklärung (explanation)
Compare these -ung nouns with the kind of nouns you learned how to read in Unit
4, Verbs as Nouns, which were nouns formed directly from infinitive verb forms. For
example, whereas Vergrößerung (feminine) refers to a photographic enlargement as
an object – thus as the end product of the act –, Vergrößern (neuter) refers to the
act of enlarging a photo. The neuter, infinitive-form nouns always refer specifically
to the act, action, or process itself. Similarly, compare Erklären (the act of
explaining) with Erklärung (the explanation itself).
As you seek to expand your vocabulary, always look closely at a word to see if a
part of it is familiar to you. This will give you some indication as to the word’s