Argumentation and Academic Discourse | German Grammar

Writing a German Erörterung (argumentative essay) or Hausarbeit (term paper) is not just translating English academic prose into German words. German academic discourse has its own ideal of what a good argument looks like, and that ideal differs from the English one in two systematic ways: it demands explicit, signposted structure (first, second, therefore — stated out loud), and it demands impersonal objectivity — the writer's person is grammatically pushed into the background through man, the passive, the Nominalstil, and Konjunktiv I for reported claims. Get the connectors and the impersonal grammar right and your argument sounds German, regardless of its content.

The vocabulary of argument

Before structuring anything, you need the building blocks. German labels the parts of an argument precisely, and these terms recur in every essay, exam rubric, and seminar:

German	English	Function
die These / die Behauptung	thesis / claim	What you assert
das Argument	argument	Reason supporting the claim
die Begründung	justification / reasoning	The "because"
der Beleg / der Beweis	evidence / proof	What backs the reasoning
das Beispiel	example	Concrete illustration
das Gegenargument / der Einwand	counter-argument / objection	The opposing view
die Schlussfolgerung / das Fazit	conclusion	What follows

Diese These lässt sich mit einem konkreten Beispiel belegen.

This thesis can be supported with a concrete example. (note: belegen = to back up with evidence)

Structuring the argument explicitly

This is where German diverges most visibly from English. English academic writing often values an argument that "flows," with structure implied rather than announced. German rewards the opposite: a good Erörterung names its steps. Readers expect ordinal signposts and functional connectors that tell them exactly where they are.

Note the orthography: the ordinal adverbs erstens, zweitens, drittens (firstly, secondly, thirdly) are written lowercase — they are adverbs, not numbers.

Opening / ordering: zunächst (first of all), erstens … zweitens … drittens, vor allem (above all).

Zunächst ist festzuhalten, dass die Datenlage uneindeutig ist.

First of all, it should be noted that the data are inconclusive. (zunächst opens; impersonal ist...festzuhalten)

Adding / developing: des Weiteren, ferner, darüber hinaus, zudem (furthermore, moreover, in addition).

Darüber hinaus zeigt eine aktuelle Studie ähnliche Ergebnisse.

Moreover, a recent study shows similar results. (darüber hinaus adds a further point)

Drawing conclusions: folglich, somit, daraus folgt, dass … (consequently, thus, from this it follows that).

Die Kosten steigen, während die Einnahmen sinken; folglich ist das Modell nicht tragfähig.

Costs are rising while revenue falls; consequently the model is not viable. (folglich draws the inference)

Contrasting: im Gegensatz dazu, demgegenüber, hingegen (in contrast, by contrast, however).

Befürworter betonen den Nutzen; demgegenüber warnen Kritiker vor den Risiken.

Supporters stress the benefit; in contrast, critics warn of the risks. (demgegenüber sets up the counter-view)

Concluding the whole text: zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, abschließend, insgesamt (in summary, in conclusion, overall).

Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass die Vorteile überwiegen.

In summary, it can be said that the advantages outweigh. (standard essay-closing frame)

Qualifying: the zwar…aber and einerseits…andererseits frames

A mature argument concedes before it counters. German has two workhorse two-part frames for this. Zwar … aber concedes a point and then overrides it; einerseits … andererseits weighs two sides more evenly.

Zwar ist die Maßnahme teuer, aber sie senkt langfristig die Folgekosten.

The measure is admittedly expensive, but in the long run it lowers the follow-up costs. (zwar concedes, aber overrides)

Einerseits erhöht die Regelung die Sicherheit, andererseits schränkt sie die Freiheit ein.

On the one hand the rule increases safety, on the other it restricts freedom. (balanced weighing)

💡

German argumentation prizes the Scheinbar-objektive Abwägung — the visibly balanced weighing of pros and cons before the conclusion. Conceding the opposing point with zwar or einerseits and only then landing your own with aber or folglich reads as rigorous and fair; jumping straight to your conclusion reads as one-sided.

Attributing sources: laut, zufolge, and Konjunktiv I

When you report what a source claims — without committing yourself to its truth — German has dedicated grammar that English lacks. Two things happen.

First, the citation frames. Laut + dative ("according to"), X zufolge (postposed, "according to X"), wie X zeigt ("as X shows"), and the abbreviation vgl. (= vergleiche, "cf.") all attribute without endorsing.

Laut dem Bericht der Kommission sind die Ziele nicht erreicht worden.

According to the commission's report, the targets have not been met. (laut + dative)

Den Autoren zufolge handelt es sich um einen Einzelfall.

According to the authors, it is an isolated case. (X zufolge — note it follows its noun)

Second, and more importantly, German uses Konjunktiv I (the reportive subjunctive) to mark a claim as someone else's, not the writer's. Where English just says "the author argues that X is true," German can shift the reported verb into Konjunktiv I — sei, habe, könne, werde — and that shift alone signals "this is the source's view, I am quoting, not asserting." This is the single most distinctively German feature of academic citation.

Der Autor argumentiert, dass der Klimawandel hauptsächlich menschengemacht sei.

The author argues that climate change is mainly man-made. (sei = Konjunktiv I, distancing the claim from the writer)

Kritiker behaupten, die Reform habe ihr Ziel verfehlt.

Critics claim the reform has missed its goal. (habe = Konjunktiv I; no 'dass' needed when the subjunctive carries the report)

The contrast is sharp: …dass es so ist (indicative) presents the claim as fact; …dass es so sei (Konjunktiv I) presents it as reported. A careful German academic writer uses the subjunctive to stay neutral about a source's correctness.

The impersonal, objective style

German academic prose distances itself from the writer's person. Four grammatical devices do this, and using them is what separates polished C1 prose from competent-but-foreign-sounding writing.

1. man instead of ich/wir/you. Where English writes "we can see that…" or "you find that…," German prefers the impersonal man — "one finds that."

Man kann davon ausgehen, dass weitere Forschung nötig ist.

One can assume that further research is necessary. (man avoids the personal 'I/we')

2. The passive, which removes the agent entirely — ideal when who did something is irrelevant to the argument.

In dieser Arbeit wird untersucht, wie sich die Werte verändern.

This paper investigates how the values change. (literally: 'it is investigated' — agentless passive)

3. The Nominalstil (nominal style): turning verbs and clauses into nouns. Die Werte verändern sich becomes die Veränderung der Werte; weil die Kosten steigen becomes aufgrund der steigenden Kosten. Heavy nominalization compresses information and sounds formal — though, used to excess, it becomes the impenetrable Amtsdeutsch criticized elsewhere.

Die Untersuchung der Ursachen erfordert eine genaue Analyse der Daten.

The investigation of the causes requires a precise analysis of the data. (Nominalstil — three nominalizations carry the sentence)

4. Hedging (Abtönung of certainty): academic German is cautious, marking how strongly a claim is made. Es lässt sich zeigen, dass… (it can be shown that), tendenziell (tends to), vermutlich (presumably), möglicherweise (possibly), in der Regel (as a rule).

Es lässt sich zeigen, dass der Effekt tendenziell mit dem Alter zunimmt.

It can be shown that the effect tends to increase with age. (es lässt sich zeigen + tendenziell = double hedge)

A worked argument

Here is a short argument that combines structure, attribution, qualification, and impersonal style — the texture of real German academic prose:

Zunächst ist festzuhalten, dass die Digitalisierung der Schulen umstritten ist. Befürworter argumentieren, sie fördere die Selbstständigkeit der Lernenden. Demgegenüber warnen Kritiker, der Lerneffekt sei nicht belegt. Zwar überzeugen beide Seiten in Teilen, aber die Datenlage bleibt dünn. Folglich lässt sich abschließend sagen, dass weitere Studien erforderlich sind.

First, it should be noted that the digitalization of schools is controversial. Supporters argue it fosters learners' independence. By contrast, critics warn that the learning effect is not proven. Both sides are partly convincing, but the data remain thin. Consequently, in conclusion, it can be said that further studies are required. (note fördere/sei = Konjunktiv I; folglich, demgegenüber, zwar...aber structure the argument)

English contrast

Academic English and academic German share the goal of objectivity but reach it differently. English academic style today is comparatively verbal and personal: it tolerates and often encourages "I argue," "we show," "this paper investigates" with a stated agent, and it generally prefers verbs over heavy nominalizations ("plain English" movements actively warn against nominal style). German academic style pulls the other way: it leans on man, the agentless passive, and the Nominalstil to suppress the writer's person, and it has a dedicated grammatical mood — Konjunktiv I — for reporting a source neutrally, which English simply does not possess. An English speaker's instinct to write "I think the author is right that…" reads, in German, as naïve and under-distanced; the German convention is Der Autor argumentiert, dass… sei and then a separately marked evaluation.

Common Mistakes

Writing in a personal, anecdotal style where German expects impersonal objectivity.

❌ Ich finde, dass das eine gute Idee ist, weil ich das selbst erlebt habe.

Off-register for academic prose — too personal and anecdotal.

✅ Es lässt sich zeigen, dass dieser Ansatz Vorteile bietet.

It can be shown that this approach offers advantages. (impersonal, evidence-oriented)

Leaving a reported claim in the indicative when it should be distanced.

❌ Der Autor behauptet, dass die Methode zuverlässig ist.

Weak — the indicative 'ist' presents the claim as the writer's own fact.

✅ Der Autor behauptet, dass die Methode zuverlässig sei.

The author claims that the method is reliable. (Konjunktiv I distances the claim)

Capitalizing the ordinal connectors.

❌ Erstens ... Zweitens ... (mid-sentence)

Incorrect — these are adverbs and stay lowercase: erstens, zweitens (capital only if they begin a sentence).

✅ erstens ..., zweitens ..., drittens ...

firstly..., secondly..., thirdly... (lowercase adverbs)

Using the wrong case after laut.

❌ Laut des Berichts ...

Disputed/avoided — laut standardly takes the dative in careful usage: laut dem Bericht.

✅ Laut dem Bericht steigen die Zahlen.

According to the report, the figures are rising. (laut + dative)

Stringing claims together with no structural signposting.

❌ Das ist teuer. Das ist auch riskant. Wir sollten es nicht machen.

Under-structured for German argument — no connectors marking relation or inference.

✅ Die Maßnahme ist teuer; zudem ist sie riskant. Folglich sollte sie überdacht werden.

The measure is expensive; moreover it is risky. Consequently it should be reconsidered. (zudem adds, folglich infers)

Key Takeaways

German argumentation rewards explicit structure — signpost with zunächst, erstens/zweitens, des Weiteren, folglich, demgegenüber, zusammenfassend (all lowercase).
Concede before you counter with zwar … aber and einerseits … andererseits.
Attribute sources with laut + dative, X zufolge, wie X zeigt, vgl. — and use Konjunktiv I (sei, habe, könne) to mark a claim as the source's, not yours.
Write impersonally: man, the agentless passive, the Nominalstil, and hedging (es lässt sich zeigen, tendenziell, vermutlich) push the writer's person into the background.
Unlike modern academic English, which is more verbal and tolerates a stated "I/we," German prizes impersonal objectivity and has a dedicated reportive mood for citation.

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