Economy & Business
Economy & Business
Business and economics reporting is one of the heartlands of the Nominalstil you met earlier — actions routinely appear as nouns rather than verbs, which is worth watching for as you read financial German.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Business German prefers a noun over a verb wherever possible
die Erhöhung der Preise (the increase of prices) vs. die Preise erhöhen sich (prices are increasing)
the increase of prices vs. prices are increasing
Economic reports and business writing lean heavily on nominalized phrases like die Erhöhung der Preise, die Steigerung des Umsatzes, or der Rückgang der Nachfrage rather than spelling the same idea out as a full clause. This is the same Nominalstil pattern from the nominalization lesson, just concentrated in a specific register — recognizing a noun ending in -ung as standing in for a whole action ('prices went up' hiding inside 'the increase of prices') will make financial and business texts much easier to parse.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| die Wirtschaft | dee VEERT-shahft | the economy |
| das Unternehmen | dahs oon-ter-NAY-men | the company/enterprise |
| der Markt | dair markt | the market |
| die Nachfrage | dee NAHKH-frah-geh | the demand |
| das Angebot | dahs AHN-geh-boht | the supply/offer |
| der Gewinn | dair geh-VIN | the profit |
| der Verlust | dair fair-LOOST | the loss |
| die Investition | dee in-ves-ti-tsee-OHN | the investment |
| der Wettbewerb | dair VET-beh-vairp | the competition |
| die Arbeitslosigkeit | dee AHR-byts-loh-zikh-kyt | unemployment |
| das Wachstum | dahs VAHKS-toom | growth |
| die Inflation | dee in-flah-tsee-OHN | inflation |
| der Umsatz | dair OOM-zahts | the revenue/turnover |
| die Aktie | dee AHK-tsee-eh | the (stock) share |
| verhandeln | fair-HAHN-deln | to negotiate |