Breakdown of Wir tauen den Fisch heute wegen der Kontrolle langsam im Becken auf.
in
in
wir
we
heute
today
langsam
slow, slowly
der Fisch
the fish
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
wegen
because of
die Kontrolle
the inspection
das Becken
the tank
auftauen
to thaw
Questions & Answers about Wir tauen den Fisch heute wegen der Kontrolle langsam im Becken auf.
This lesson covers elliptical subordinate clauses. How is wegen der Kontrolle acting as one here?
This prepositional phrase is a nominalized version of a full causal clause. Instead of writing a longer subordinate clause like weil wir eine Kontrolle haben (because we have an inspection), we compress the reason into the noun phrase wegen der Kontrolle. This makes the sentence more concise and is very common in B2-level texts.
Why are the adverbs and phrases arranged exactly as heute wegen der Kontrolle langsam im Becken?
This is a textbook example of the TeKaMoLo rule, which dictates the standard order of adverbial information in a German sentence: Temporal (Time: heute), Kausal (Reason: wegen der Kontrolle), Modal (Manner: langsam), and finally Lokal (Place: im Becken).
Is der Kontrolle after wegen in the genitive or dative case?
Officially, the preposition wegen takes the genitive case, so this is genitive. However, because the feminine article die changes to der in both the genitive and dative cases, they look identical here. Just remember that in formal B2 German, wegen always triggers the genitive, even though you might hear native speakers use the dative in casual speech.
The verb auftauen is used here with an accusative object (den Fisch). Can it also be used without one?
Yes, auftauen can be either transitive or intransitive. Here we are actively doing it to an object (transitive), but you could also say der Fisch taut auf (the fish is thawing) to describe the process happening on its own.
Learn Wir tauen den Fisch heute wegen der Kontrolle langsam im Becken auf and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free