In formal German, or when speaking very precisely, you can use specialized prepositions to concisely express a goal or a lack of resources. Two highly useful prepositions for this are mangels and zwecks.
Just like other formal prepositions, both of these require the genitive case. Let's explore how they work in the context of wilderness survival.
Mangels (For lack of)
The preposition mangels translates to "for lack of" or "due to a lack of". It is used when a situation or action is forced because you are missing something essential.
| For lack of good gear, we have to improvise. | Mangels guter Ausrüstung müssen wir improvisieren. |
Remember that in the genitive case, masculine and neuter nouns take an -s or -es ending. If there is an adjective but no article (like "dry firewood"), the adjective takes the genitive endings (-er for feminine and plural, -en for masculine and neuter).
| For lack of dry firewood, we have no warmth in the evening. | Mangels trockenen Brennholzes haben wir abends keine Wärme. |
Zwecks (For the purpose of)
The preposition zwecks means "for the purpose of" or "in order to". It clearly indicates the specific goal or intended outcome of an action.
| For the purpose of our survival, we build a shelter immediately. | Zwecks unseres Überlebens errichten wir sofort einen Unterschlupf. |
Like mangels, it is always followed by the genitive case.
| For the purpose of safe drinking water, we boil the water from the river. | Zwecks sicheren Trinkwassers kochen wir das Wasser aus dem Fluss ab. |
Combining Prepositions
In complex situations (like an emergency report), you might see both concepts used side by side to explain exactly why a drastic measure was taken and what it was meant to achieve.
| For lack of a tent, we use the cave for the purpose of our survival. | Mangels eines Zeltes benutzen wir die Höhle zwecks unseres Überlebens. |