Word
Der Import von Aluminium ist kaum zu stoppen.
Meaning
The import of aluminum can hardly be stopped.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der Import von Aluminium ist kaum zu stoppen.
sein
to be
von
from, of / by (agent in passive clauses)
zu
to (infinitive marker)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
Questions & Answers about Der Import von Aluminium ist kaum zu stoppen.
Why is von Aluminium used here instead of the Genitive case?
Aluminium is a mass noun used here without an article. In German, if a standalone noun doesn't have an article or an adjective in front of it to clearly mark the Genitive case, you must use von + Dative instead to express 'of'. Because there is no visible Genitive marker, der Import Aluminiums would sound strange or ambiguous, making von Aluminium mandatory in this sentence.
If I add an adjective like billig (cheap), can I use the Genitive then?
Yes! If you add an adjective, the Genitive case becomes visible through the adjective's ending. You could grammatically say der Import billigen Aluminiums. However, sticking to von + Dative (der Import von billigem Aluminium) is also perfectly correct and often preferred in everyday speech.
Why does the sentence use ist ... zu stoppen instead of a normal passive structure?
The structure sein + zu + infinitive is a common B-level alternative to the passive voice with a modal verb. It expresses that something can or must be done. Saying ist kaum zu stoppen is just a shorter, more elegant way of saying kann kaum gestoppt werden (can hardly be stopped).
What exactly is the function of kaum in this sentence?
The word kaum is an adverb meaning 'hardly', 'barely', or 'scarcely'. Placed before the infinitive phrase, it modifies the ability to stop the action, creating the meaning that the import is almost, but perhaps not entirely, impossible to stop.