Breakdown of Das Gesundheitsamt vermeidet die Gefahr dadurch, dass es das Restaurant schließt.
es
it
das Restaurant
the restaurant
schließen
to close
die Gefahr
the danger
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
vermeiden
to avoid
dadurch, dass
by the fact that
das Gesundheitsamt
the health department
Questions & Answers about Das Gesundheitsamt vermeidet die Gefahr dadurch, dass es das Restaurant schließt.
How would we rewrite this sentence to use a shortened infinitive clause, since that is the focus of this lesson?
Because the subject of the main clause (Das Gesundheitsamt) is the same as the subject of the subordinate clause (es), we can drop the second subject and shorten the dass clause into an infinitive clause with zu. The sentence becomes: Das Gesundheitsamt vermeidet die Gefahr dadurch, das Restaurant zu schließen.
Why do we need the word dadurch here instead of just starting the second part with dass?
In German, the conjunction dass simply means "that". To express "by doing something", you need a placeholder word in the main clause. Here, the preposition durch (meaning through or by) combines with da- to form dadurch. This points forward to the method described in the dass clause.
The English translation says "prevents", but doesn't vermeidet usually mean "avoid"?
Yes, vermeiden generally translates to "avoid", while "prevent" is verhindern. However, in the context of danger (die Gefahr), German speakers frequently use vermeiden to mean avoiding the risk altogether, which effectively translates to preventing the danger in English.
If we wanted to express "by closing" with a noun instead of a dass clause, how would the structure change?
You would drop the dass clause entirely, along with the da- part of dadurch. You would simply use the preposition durch followed by a noun in the accusative case. For example: Das Gesundheitsamt vermeidet die Gefahr durch die Schließung des Restaurants.
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