Breakdown of Unser Geschäftsmodell funktioniert trotz der starken Konkurrenz.
funktionieren
to work (function)
unser
our
stark
strong
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
trotz
despite
die Konkurrenz
the competition (business, competitors)
das Geschäftsmodell
the business model
Questions & Answers about Unser Geschäftsmodell funktioniert trotz der starken Konkurrenz.
How would this sentence look if we used obwohl (although) instead of trotz (despite)?
You would turn the phrase back into a subordinate clause: Unser Geschäftsmodell funktioniert, obwohl die Konkurrenz stark ist. Using trotz allows you to nominalize the clause into a single prepositional phrase, which makes the sentence more concise and is highly typical for professional or written German.
Why is the article der used before the feminine noun Konkurrenz?
The preposition trotz requires the genitive case in standard written German. For feminine nouns like die Konkurrenz, the definite article changes to der in the genitive.
Why does the adjective starken end in -en here?
Adjectives that follow a definite article in the genitive case always take the -en ending. This weak declension rule applies to all nouns in the genitive case, regardless of their gender.
If I move the phrase trotz der starken Konkurrenz to the beginning of the sentence, how does the word order change?
The conjugated verb must stay in position two. Since the entire prepositional phrase Trotz der starken Konkurrenz acts as a single block occupying position one, the verb must come immediately after it: Trotz der starken Konkurrenz funktioniert unser Geschäftsmodell.
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