Breakdown of Das Unternehmen ist trotz des schlechten Geschäftsmodells profitabel.
sein
to be
schlecht
bad
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
das Unternehmen
the company (enterprise)
trotz
despite
das Geschäftsmodell
the business model
profitabel
profitable
Questions & Answers about Das Unternehmen ist trotz des schlechten Geschäftsmodells profitabel.
How would this sentence look if we used "obwohl" (although) instead of "trotz" (despite)?
To use obwohl, you have to expand the prepositional phrase into a full subordinate clause. The sentence becomes: Das Unternehmen ist profitabel, obwohl das Geschäftsmodell schlecht ist. Notice that the noun (Geschäftsmodell) becomes the subject of the new clause, and the declined adjective (schlechten) reverts to its base form (schlecht).
Why does "Geschäftsmodell" have an "-s" at the end here?
The preposition trotz (despite) requires the Genitive case. Because the core of the compound noun is das Modell (a neuter noun), its Genitive form requires an -s at the end, resulting in des Geschäftsmodells.
Why does the adjective "schlecht" take the ending "-en" in this sentence?
This is an example of weak adjective declension. Because the definite article des already clearly signals the Genitive case, the adjective following it simply takes the standard -en ending, making it schlechten.
If I move "Trotz des schlechten Geschäftsmodells" to the beginning of the sentence, how does the word order change?
In German, the verb must always be in the second position in a main clause. If you put the entire prepositional phrase in position one, the verb must immediately follow it. The sentence becomes: Trotz des schlechten Geschäftsmodells ist das Unternehmen profitabel.
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