Breakdown of Der Schluss der Hausarbeit soll kurz sein und die wichtigsten Ergebnisse zeigen.
Questions & Answers about Der Schluss der Hausarbeit soll kurz sein und die wichtigsten Ergebnisse zeigen.
Both Schluss and Ende can mean “end,” but they’re used a bit differently.
- Schluss often suggests a concluding part or wrap‑up, especially in texts, talks, meetings, films, etc. It can also mean “conclusion” in the argumentative sense.
- Ende is more general: the end of a day, a film, a street, a book, a life, etc.
In academic writing, the final section is commonly called der Schluss or das Fazit, so Der Schluss der Hausarbeit is the “conclusion of the term paper,” not just the temporal end.
- der Schluss: nominative singular, masculine. Schluss is a masculine noun: der Schluss.
- der Hausarbeit: genitive singular, feminine. Hausarbeit is feminine: die Hausarbeit in nominative, but after another noun to show possession/relationship you use the genitive: der Hausarbeit.
So the structure is:
Der Schluss (subject, nominative) der Hausarbeit (genitive: “of the term paper”).
You can say der Schluss von der Hausarbeit, and people will understand you, but:
- der Schluss der Hausarbeit (genitive) is more standard, more formal, and especially appropriate in written/academic German.
- der Schluss von der Hausarbeit is more colloquial and less elegant in this context.
For academic style, prefer the genitive: der Schluss der Hausarbeit.
soll is a modal verb expressing a requirement, guideline, or expectation coming from some rule, teacher, or convention.
- soll kurz sein ≈ “is supposed to be short / should be short” (according to instructions).
- ist kurz = “is short” (simple statement of fact, no instruction).
- muss kurz sein = “must be short” (strong obligation, no real choice).
- sollte kurz sein = “ought to be short / should ideally be short” (softer, more like advice).
In assignment guidelines, soll is very typical: it states what is required or expected.
German modal verbs push the main (lexical) verb to the end of the clause.
Here we actually have two things the conclusion should do:
- kurz sein (be short),
- die wichtigsten Ergebnisse zeigen (show the most important results).
So we get two parallel infinitive phrases after soll:
- soll kurz sein
- (soll) die wichtigsten Ergebnisse zeigen
Connected with und:
… soll kurz sein und die wichtigsten Ergebnisse zeigen.
Putting sein at the very end (after zeigen) would break the normal pattern and sound wrong.
There are two different constructions:
kurz sein
- kurz is a predicative adjective (used with sein).
- Predicative adjectives in German never take endings: ist kurz, war schwierig, bleibt interessant.
die wichtigsten Ergebnisse
- Here wichtigsten is an attributive adjective (directly before a noun).
- Attributive adjectives always take endings that depend on gender, number, case, and article type.
- die (definite article, plural, accusative here) → adjective ending -en: die wichtigsten Ergebnisse.
So: no ending after sein, but an ending before a noun with an article.
Ergebnisse is the plural of das Ergebnis (neuter).
In this sentence, die wichtigsten Ergebnisse is the direct object of zeigen (“show”), so it’s in the accusative plural.
- Nominative plural definite article: die
- Accusative plural definite article: also die
So die here is the definite article for plural accusative, and wichtigsten takes -en as the adjective ending in this context: die wichtigsten Ergebnisse.
Hausarbeit can mean two different things depending on context:
- In school, informally, it can mean homework.
- At university (and often in school when talking about bigger projects), Hausarbeit is a written paper / term paper / coursework essay that you submit and that is usually graded.
In your sentence, with Schluss, Ergebnisse, etc., it clearly refers to an academic written assignment, not simple everyday homework.
- kurz refers to length or duration (“short” in time/extent, short text, short film, short distance).
- klein refers to size or volume/physical dimensions (“small” object, small room, small person).
A conclusion is “short” in length, not “small” in size, so German uses kurz:
Der Schluss … soll kurz sein = “The conclusion should be short (brief).”
If you drop sein, the structure and meaning change:
… soll kurz sein und die wichtigsten Ergebnisse zeigen.
→ Two separate ideas:
1) It should be short.
2) It should show the most important results.… soll kurz und die wichtigsten Ergebnisse zeigen.
→ Grammatically, this is interpreted as: “It should briefly show the most important results,” with kurz functioning like an adverb (“briefly”) modifying zeigen, and no explicit statement that the conclusion itself is short.
So if you want to say clearly that the conclusion itself should be short, keep sein:
… soll kurz sein und die wichtigsten Ergebnisse zeigen.
Yes, you could say, for example:
- … soll kurz sein und die wichtigsten Ergebnisse darstellen.
- … soll kurz sein und die wichtigsten Ergebnisse präsentieren.
- … soll kurz sein und die wichtigsten Ergebnisse zusammenfassen.
Subtle differences:
- zeigen: relatively neutral “show,” “make visible/clear.”
- darstellen: “depict / represent / describe,” often a bit more formal.
- präsentieren: “present,” has a more deliberate, sometimes more oral or slide-presentation feel.
- zusammenfassen: “summarize,” explicitly says you’re giving a brief summary.
In typical guidelines for academic writing, zeigen or zusammenfassen would be most common, depending on whether the focus is on showing or summarizing the results.