In this lesson, you can learn all about adverbs of cause in German. Which attachments belong to this group of attachments and how they are divided. You will find explanations and examples of how these adjectives are used.
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What are adverbs of cause?
Types of adverbs of cause
Adverbs of cause expressing a reason
Adverbs of cause expressing a condition
Adverbs of cause that expressing a consequence
Adverbs of cause expressing permission
Adverbs of cause that expressing a restriction
Adverbs of cause that expressing the opposite
What are adverbs of cause?
Adverbs of cause in German are a subtype of adverbs. In German they are also called Kausaladverbien. Causal is a word of Latin origin and in our language it means: reason/ cause.
. But causative adverbs include not only adverbs that express the REASON of a situation/circumstance, but also adverbs that describe a CONDITION, CONSEQUENCE, CONCESSION, LIMITATION OR CONTRAST.
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Grammar content
Types of adverbs of cause
Causative adverbs can describe a reason in the narrower sense, but also a condition, consequence, concession, limitation and opposite. So we divide them into groups.
So there are adverbs for:
reason: daher (because of that), darum (because of that), deswegen (because of that), nämlich (namely, because), dazu (because of that),
condition: sonst (otherwise), ansonsten (otherwise, otherwise), notfalls (if necessary)
permission/concession: trotzdem (despite that), dennoch (nevertheless), gleichwohl (nevertheless)
consequence: also (therefore, accordingly), folglich (therefore, accordingly), demzufolge (therefore, because)
limitation: allerdings (although, nevertheless), insofern (if, only if), soweit (if)
opposite: dagegen (opposite), jedoch (however), doch (nevertheless), hingegen (on the contrary, on the contrary)
Adverbs of cause expressing a reason
These adverbs are used to express why something happens or why a certain circumstance is the way it is.
For example in the sentence Er ist krank, deshalb bleibt er zu Hause.
Deshalb, is a causative adverb here, which refers to the sentence: Er ist krank, and therefore expresses the reason why he does not come. They answer the question Warum? (Why?) or Wozu? (Why?).
For example:
darum: Sie ist meine Freundin, darum hilft sie mir.
deshalb: Er ist krank, deshalb bleibt er zu Hause.
daher: Er hat es mir gesagt, daher weiß ich es schon lange.
Adverbs of cause expressing a condition
These causative adverbs refer to the cause of a circumstance that occurs under a certain condition.
For example:
Er kommt später. Das Flugzeug hatte nämlich eine Verspätung.
The delay of the plane caused his delay. The adverb expressing the condition here is nämlich.
This group of adverbs answers the question Warum? (why), Weshalb? (why, for what) or Wieso (why)?
The most common adjectives that express a condition are:
dadurch: Ich habe mich ausgeruht und bin dadurch viel erholter.
keinesfalls: Ich darf keinesfalls zu spät zum Meeting kommen.
nähmlich: Er kommt später. Er hatte nämlich einen Unfall.
Adverbs of cause that expressing a consequence
These adverbs indicate the consequence that follows from the preceding text. For example, if the company goes bankrupt, then the workers get fired as a result, or if someone has pain, they go to the doctor, etc. Causative adverbs that express the consequence of some circumstance are: also, somit, folglich and many others.
For example:
also: Der Bus fährt um 8 Uhr ab, also muss ich eilen.
folglich: Die Firma ging pleite, folglich alle Mitarbeiter haben die Kündigung erhalten.
demzufolge: Sie ist krank und kann demzufolge nicht am Seminar teilnehmen.
Adverbs of cause expressing permission
What does permission/concession really mean? These adverbs also serve as conjunctions of permissive sentences (Konzessivsätze). And in permissive sentences, the action of the main clause is allowed, although it is NOT EXPECTED. So a kind of concession is made.
Here is an example:
Die Arbeit war schwer, dennoch hatte ich Spaß daran. = The work was hard, but I still enjoyed it.
What would be the concession in this sentence? The fact that, even though the work was hard, I enjoyed it.
Something OPPOSITE OF THE EXPECTED is happening.
For example:
dennoch: Die Arbeit war schwer, dennoch hatte ich Spaß daran.
nichtdestotrotz: Es regnet zwar, aber nichtsdestotrotz gehe ich spazieren.
trotzdem: Die Sonne schien, aber trotzdem war es kalt
All three adverbs have the same meaning: nevertheless, in spite of that.
For example:
dennoch: The work was hard, but I still enjoyed it.
nichtdestotrotz: It’s raining, but I’m still going for a walk.
trotzdem: The sun was shining, but it was still cold.
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Grammar Contents
Adverbs of cause that expressing a restriction
With the help of these adverbs, we can express the limitation of an action.
For example:
Er ist sehr stark, allerdings wenig geschick.
– He is very strong but still has a limitation, he is not very skilled.
Other examples:
kaum: Ich habe kaum damit gerechnet, eine Gehaltserhöhung zu bekommen.
allerdings: Er ist sehr stark, allerdings wenig geschickt.
insofern: Er war zur diesen Zeit verreist und gilt insofern nicht als Täter.
Adverbs of cause that expressing the opposite
You need them, for example, to describe two contrasting circumstances in more detail.
For example:
Im Süden ist es schon warm, im Norden dagegen schneit es noch.
In this sentence, two opposites are expressed, while it is warm in the south, on the other hand, it is snowing in the north. An adverb expressing the opposite is dagegen. There are other causative adverbs that describe such contrasts in more detail.
For example:
jedoch: Alles verlief nach Plan,er verlor jedoch die Nerven.
dagegen: Er sprach fließend Französisch, dagegen konnte er kein Deutsch.
doch: Er sagte, er würde es ihr nicht sagen, aber er hat es doch gemacht.
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