Breakdown of Ohne sicheren Klettergurt wäre die Verletzungsgefahr an diesem Abhang viel zu hoch.
Questions & Answers about Ohne sicheren Klettergurt wäre die Verletzungsgefahr an diesem Abhang viel zu hoch.
German main clauses normally put the finite verb in second position (the V2 rule).
Second position means: the verb comes after the first element, not after the first word.
Here, the first element is the whole prepositional phrase Ohne sicheren Klettergurt. That whole chunk counts as position 1, so the verb wäre must come next:
- Ohne sicheren Klettergurt – element 1
- wäre – verb in position 2
- die Verletzungsgefahr an diesem Abhang viel zu hoch – rest of the sentence
So the word order is completely regular for a German main clause with a fronted adverbial/prepositional phrase.
Wäre is the Konjunktiv II (subjunctive II) form of sein and is used here for a hypothetical/irrealis situation:
- "Without a safe climbing harness, the risk of injury would be far too high."
If we used ist (is) or war (was), we would be talking about a real, factual situation, not a hypothetical one.
The structure is:
- Ohne sicheren Klettergurt → introduces an unreal condition (we imagine the situation where you don’t have one)
- wäre … viel zu hoch → describes what would be true in that imagined situation
So wäre = would be, not is/was.
Yes, grammatically you can say:
- Ohne sicheren Klettergurt würde die Verletzungsgefahr an diesem Abhang viel zu hoch sein.
However, with sein, haben, and the modal verbs (können, müssen, dürfen, sollen, wollen, mögen), German strongly prefers the simple Konjunktiv II forms (wäre, hätte, könnte…) over the würde + infinitive construction.
So:
- besser / more natural: wäre
- possible but less elegant here: würde … sein
For most verbs (especially longer, irregular ones), würde + infinitive is very common, but sein is a clear case where wäre sounds more idiomatic.
Because ohne always takes the accusative case, and Klettergurt is a masculine noun.
- Masculine noun: der Klettergurt
- Accusative singular without article, with an adjective: sicheren Klettergurt
Adjective endings (without article) for a masculine noun:
- Nominative: sicherer Klettergurt
- Accusative: sicheren Klettergurt
Since ohne → accusative, you must use sicheren, not sicherer.
Both are possible:
- Ohne sicheren Klettergurt wäre …
- Ohne einen sicheren Klettergurt wäre …
The version without the article is slightly more general and compact. It sounds like “without (a) safe climbing harness” in a generic sense.
With einen, the phrase gets a little more concrete or specific, like “without a safe climbing harness” in a particular, countable sense. But the difference is subtle, and in everyday speech both options are natural. Here, omitting the article is very idiomatic German.
Verletzungsgefahr is a compound noun:
- die Verletzung = injury
- die Gefahr = danger, risk
Between them you get a linking -s-: Verletzung + s + Gefahr → Verletzungsgefahr.
So literally: “injury-s-danger” = the danger/risk of injury.
In English we’d say “risk of injury”, but in German this is typically expressed as one compound noun.
The base noun Gefahr is grammatically feminine:
- die Gefahr (danger)
When you form the compound Verletzungsgefahr, the last element (Gefahr) determines the gender of the whole compound. So:
- Verletzungsgefahr is also feminine: die Verletzungsgefahr
This is a general rule in German: in a compound noun, the rightmost part decides the gender.
Both an and auf can sometimes translate to “on” in English, but they have different spatial nuances:
- an is typically “at / by / on (vertical surface / edge)”
- auf is more like “on top of (a horizontal surface)”
Abhang is a slope / steep hillside, imagined as a steep, almost vertical surface. So you usually think of danger at that slope, by that slope, or on the slope’s face, which fits an better.
- an diesem Abhang — at/by/on this slope (as a steep side)
- auf diesem Abhang — would sound more like “on top of this sloping area / hillside” and is less natural for the idea of straightforward falling danger down the slope.
So an diesem Abhang is the idiomatic choice here.
Because of the preposition an and the meaning here.
An is one of the so‑called two-way prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen): an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen. These can take either:
- Accusative – when expressing movement toward / into a place
- Dative – when expressing location / position (no movement)
Here we’re talking about where the risk is high: an diesem Abhang (at this slope) → a static location, so dative.
- Masculine noun: der Abhang
- Dative singular: dem Abhang
- With demonstrative: diesem Abhang
- zu hoch = too high (already above an acceptable level)
- sehr hoch = very high (strongly high, but not automatically “too much / unacceptable”)
- viel zu hoch = far too high, way too high
So viel intensifies zu hoch.
In this sentence, viel zu hoch underlines that the risk wouldn’t just be a bit too high, but excessively and unacceptably high.
Yes, that word order is grammatically correct:
- Die Verletzungsgefahr wäre an diesem Abhang ohne sicheren Klettergurt viel zu hoch.
German word order is relatively flexible for adverbials (like an diesem Abhang, ohne sicheren Klettergurt). The main rule is that the finite verb stays in second position, and the rest can be rearranged as long as the meaning stays clear.
Different orders slightly change the emphasis:
- Ohne sicheren Klettergurt wäre die Verletzungsgefahr an diesem Abhang viel zu hoch.
→ Emphasis on the condition (without a harness). - Die Verletzungsgefahr wäre an diesem Abhang ohne sicheren Klettergurt viel zu hoch.
→ Emphasis on the risk itself.
Both are idiomatic; the original just foregrounds the condition more strongly.
- der Hang = slope, hillside (a sloping piece of ground in general)
- der Abhang = steep slope, drop-off, escarpment; usually steeper and more dangerous
So Abhang suggests a steep slope where falling is especially risky, which fits well with Verletzungsgefahr. That’s why Abhang is a good choice in this context.