Breakdown of Das Unternehmen schließt wegen des Verlusts.
schließen
to close
wegen
because of
das Unternehmen
the company (enterprise)
der Verlust
the loss
Questions & Answers about Das Unternehmen schließt wegen des Verlusts.
Why does der Verlust change to des Verlusts here?
The preposition wegen (because of) requires the genitive case. Since Verlust is a masculine noun (der Verlust), its article changes to des. Additionally, masculine and neuter nouns take an -s or -es ending in the genitive case.
I sometimes hear Germans use the dative with wegen. Could I say wegen dem Verlust?
Yes, in everyday spoken German, people very often use the dative case with wegen (saying wegen dem Verlust). However, standard written German—and what you will be tested on in a B1 exam—strictly requires the genitive (wegen des Verlusts).
Could I start the sentence with wegen des Verlusts to emphasize the reason?
Absolutely! If you put the reason first, the sentence becomes: Wegen des Verlusts schließt das Unternehmen. Remember the golden rule of German main clauses: the conjugated verb (schließt) must stay in the second position, so the subject (das Unternehmen) shifts to immediately after the verb.
Is the noun Verlust related to the verb verlieren (to lose)?
It is! Der Verlust (the loss) is the noun form of verlieren. Building nouns from verb roots is very common in German, and recognizing these word families is a great way to expand your B1 vocabulary quickly.