In formal German — laws, contracts, official letters, academic prose, serious journalism — simple verbs are systematically replaced by verb-plus-noun units called Funktionsverbgefüge (FVG), "function-verb constructions." Instead of anwenden ("to apply") you read Anwendung finden; instead of entscheiden, eine Entscheidung treffen; instead of ausdrücken, zum Ausdruck bringen. The trick is that the verb goes "light": it loses most of its own meaning and contributes only tense and agreement, while a nominalized noun carries the actual content. Mastering FVG is what lets you read officialese and write at a genuinely formal register — and it is the single clearest marker of the German Nominalstil.
How an FVG is built
An FVG has two obligatory parts and an optional third:
- A Funktionsverb (function/support verb) — a small set of semantically bleached verbs: bringen, kommen, stehen, nehmen, finden, stellen, setzen, ziehen, üben, geraten, treten, treffen.
- A nominalized noun carrying the meaning, often the nominalized form of a verb (anwenden → Anwendung, entscheiden → Entscheidung).
- Optionally a preposition governing the noun (in Betracht, zur Verfügung, in Kraft).
The division of labour is the whole point: the verb inflects, the noun means. Compare Der Vertrag tritt morgen in Kraft — here tritt (treten, "to step") has nothing to do with stepping; it is just carrying tense and agreement, while Kraft ("force") plus in delivers "come into force."
Das neue Gesetz tritt am ersten Januar in Kraft.
The new law comes into force on the first of January.
Wir stellen Ihnen die Unterlagen gerne zur Verfügung.
We are glad to make the documents available to you.
The core FVG and their plain-verb equivalents
Every FVG has a simpler synonym. The FVG raises the register; the plain verb is what you would say casually. Learn them in pairs.
| Funktionsverbgefüge | Plain verb | English |
|---|---|---|
| zur Anwendung bringen / kommen | anwenden | to apply / be applied |
| Anwendung finden | angewendet werden | to be applied |
| in Frage stellen | bezweifeln | to call into question |
| in Betracht ziehen | erwägen, berücksichtigen | to take into consideration |
| in Erwägung ziehen | erwägen | to consider |
| eine Entscheidung treffen | entscheiden | to make a decision |
| Abschied nehmen | sich verabschieden | to take one's leave |
| in Betrieb nehmen | starten, einschalten | to put into operation |
| zur Verfügung stellen / stehen | bereitstellen / verfügbar sein | to make available / be available |
| Kritik üben (an + dat) | kritisieren | to criticize |
| in Kraft treten | gültig werden | to come into force |
| Bezug nehmen (auf + acc) | sich beziehen auf | to refer to |
| zum Ausdruck bringen | ausdrücken | to express |
| in Empfang nehmen | empfangen, entgegennehmen | to receive |
Der Abgeordnete stellte die Aussagen des Ministers öffentlich in Frage.
The MP publicly called the minister's statements into question.
Wir werden Ihren Vorschlag in Betracht ziehen und uns bald melden.
We will take your proposal into consideration and get back to you soon.
In seiner Rede brachte der Vorsitzende seine Dankbarkeit zum Ausdruck.
In his speech the chairman expressed his gratitude.
Diese Regel findet nur in Ausnahmefällen Anwendung.
This rule is applied only in exceptional cases.
The verb is fixed — and so is the bringen/kommen pairing
The dangerous part for English speakers is that the support verb is not freely chosen. Each noun selects its verb, and English gives no reliable clue. You cannot reason from "express" to bringen; you must know that Ausdruck pairs with bringen ("zum Ausdruck bringen"). A second layer of fixedness governs the active/passive alternation: many FVG come in a causative form with one verb and a resultant form with another, and the verbs are not interchangeable.
| Causative (someone does it) | Resultant (it is/happens) |
|---|---|
| zur Verfügung stellen (make available) | zur Verfügung stehen (be available) |
| zur Anwendung bringen (apply sth) | zur Anwendung kommen (be applied) |
| in Gang setzen (set in motion) | in Gang kommen (get going) |
Die Bibliothek stellt den Studenten die Datenbank zur Verfügung.
The library makes the database available to the students.
Den Studenten steht die Datenbank rund um die Uhr zur Verfügung.
The database is available to the students around the clock.
Subtle nuance: FVG are not always pure synonyms
Why does German keep these heavier constructions when a one-word verb exists? Partly register, but also aspect and emphasis. An FVG often foregrounds the action as an event or state in a way the plain verb does not. zur Aufführung bringen ("to bring to performance") emphasises the staging event itself more than the neutral aufführen ("to perform"); in Vergessenheit geraten ("to fall into oblivion") presents forgetting as a gradual process the subject undergoes, which plain vergessen werden flattens.
Das Stück wurde nach Jahren wieder zur Aufführung gebracht.
The play was staged again after years.
Der einst berühmte Dichter ist heute völlig in Vergessenheit geraten.
The once-famous poet has today fallen completely into oblivion.
This is also why FVG dominate Amtsdeutsch (officialese) and journalism: they let the writer nominalize the action, suppress the agent, and sound impersonal and authoritative. The same impulse that produces the noun-heavy Nominalstil produces the FVG.
When to use, and when not to
FVG are essential to read — you will not get through a contract, a court ruling, or a broadsheet leader without them. Producing them is a register choice. In formal writing they are correct and expected; in conversation they sound stilted, the way English "We shall take your request into consideration" would sound across a kitchen table. The skilled writer uses FVG deliberately to lift the register and switches back to the plain verb when plainness is wanted.
Vielen Dank für Ihr Schreiben, auf das wir uns gern beziehen.
Thank you for your letter, to which we are glad to refer.
Der Direktor nahm die Auszeichnung persönlich in Empfang.
The director received the award in person.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ich möchte meine Meinung zum Ausdruck machen.
Wrong verb — Ausdruck pairs with bringen, not machen.
✅ Ich möchte meine Meinung zum Ausdruck bringen.
I'd like to express my opinion.
❌ Das Gesetz kommt morgen in Kraft.
Wrong verb — a law 'steps' into force (treten), it doesn't 'come'.
✅ Das Gesetz tritt morgen in Kraft.
The law comes into force tomorrow.
❌ Wir ziehen Ihren Vorschlag in Betracht auf die Kosten.
Wrong preposition frame — 'in Betracht ziehen' takes a direct object, not 'auf'.
✅ Wir ziehen Ihren Vorschlag in Betracht.
We're taking your proposal into consideration.
❌ Die Software steht den Nutzern zur Verfügung gestellt.
Mixed two forms — 'stehen' (be available) and 'stellen' (make available) collide.
✅ Die Software wird den Nutzern zur Verfügung gestellt.
The software is made available to the users.
❌ Hey, willst du mal Abschied nehmen und dann gehen wir? (to a friend, casually)
Register clash — 'Abschied nehmen' is formal/ceremonial, absurd in casual chat.
✅ Hey, sag mal kurz Tschüss, dann gehen wir.
Hey, just say a quick bye, then we'll go.
Key Takeaways
- An FVG splits the work: a light verb (bringen, kommen, treten, stellen, nehmen, finden, ziehen, üben …) carries tense and agreement; a nominalized noun carries the meaning.
- Every FVG has a plain-verb synonym (zum Ausdruck bringen = ausdrücken, in Kraft treten = gültig werden) — the FVG raises the register.
- The support verb is fixed per noun and not predictable from English; learn the whole frame including its preposition and case.
- Causative vs resultant verbs differ: zur Verfügung stellen (make available) vs zur Verfügung stehen (be available); in Gang setzen vs in Gang kommen.
- FVG are the backbone of formal, official, and journalistic German — essential to read, used in writing as a deliberate register lift, out of place in casual speech.
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