Breakdown of Das Wetter hat großen Einfluss auf die Ernte.
groß
big / tall
das Wetter
the weather
auf
on / to (down/up to a level)
die Ernte
the harvest
Einfluss haben
to have influence
Questions & Answers about Das Wetter hat großen Einfluss auf die Ernte.
Is Einfluss haben a noun-verb construction, and why use it instead of a regular verb?
Yes! Einfluss haben auf is a classic Nomen-Verb-Verbindung. Instead of using the regular verb beeinflussen (to influence), we use a noun and a support verb. This sounds a bit more formal or professional. It also makes it very easy to add adjectives like großen to describe the degree of the action, which can sometimes be clumsier to express with adverbs and regular verbs.
Why is it großen Einfluss without an article, and why does it end in -en?
Einfluss is a masculine noun (der Einfluss), and here it is the direct object of hat, putting it in the accusative case. Since there is no article (like einen) in front of it, the adjective groß has to do all the work to show the gender and case. This is called strong adjective declension, so it takes the accusative masculine ending -en, becoming großen.
Why do we use the preposition auf here, and what case does it trigger?
The phrase Einfluss haben is fixed and requires the preposition auf to indicate what is being influenced. Even though auf is a two-way preposition that can sometimes take the dative case for locations, in abstract (non-physical) contexts like this one, it almost always takes the accusative case. That is why we say auf die Ernte instead of the dative auf der Ernte.
How would this sentence look if I used the normal verb instead of the noun-verb construction?
You would use the verb beeinflussen (to influence) as the main verb. The sentence would become: Das Wetter beeinflusst die Ernte stark. Notice how the adjective großen changes into the adverb stark (strongly/heavily) to describe the normal verb. Both sentences mean the same thing, but the noun-verb construction is highly common in news, reports, and written German!
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