Breakdown of Es war ein taktischer, wenngleich riskanter Angriff.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
es
it
der Angriff
the attack
riskant
risky
wenngleich
although
taktisch
tactical
Questions & Answers about Es war ein taktischer, wenngleich riskanter Angriff.
Why isn't there a subject or verb after wenngleich?
wenngleich is a concessive conjunction (meaning "albeit" or "although") that is frequently used to attach elliptical (shortened) clauses. Instead of writing out the full clause wenngleich er riskant war, we just drop the pronoun and verb because they are obvious from the context. This sounds much more elegant and is very common in written German.
Could I use obwohl instead of wenngleich here?
Yes, you can use obwohl in the exact same shortened way: ein taktischer, obwohl riskanter Angriff. However, wenngleich is a slightly more elevated and formal choice. It maps perfectly to the English word "albeit," while obwohl is your standard, everyday "although."
Why does riskant get the -er ending here?
Even though it is separated by a comma and a conjunction, riskant is still directly modifying the masculine noun Angriff in the nominative case. In these shortened constructions, the inserted adjective takes the exact same ending as the first one. Just like ein taktischer, it must become riskanter.
Wait, is riskanter the comparative form ("more risky")?
No, it is just the base adjective riskant with the -er ending required for a masculine nominative noun following ein. It just happens to look identical to the comparative form! If you actually wanted to say "a more risky attack," you would need the comparative marker plus the adjective ending, resulting in the mouthful ein riskanterer Angriff.
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