Breakdown of Trotz der Nervosität bleibe ich ruhig.
Questions & Answers about Trotz der Nervosität bleibe ich ruhig.
Nervosität is a feminine noun: die Nervosität in the nominative case.
The preposition trotz normally takes the genitive case.
Feminine singular in the genitive changes die → der, so:
- Nominative: die Nervosität
- Genitive: der Nervosität
So after trotz you get trotz der Nervosität.
You cannot say *trotz die Nervosität (wrong case).
Standard, “correct” German: trotz + genitive.
- trotz der Nervosität (genitive, feminine singular)
- trotz des Regens (genitive, masculine/neuter singular)
- trotz der Probleme (genitive plural)
In spoken or colloquial German, you will also hear trotz + dative, especially with everyday nouns:
- trotz der Nervosität (here genitive and dative look the same in form)
- trotz dem Regen (colloquial dative; standard is des Regens)
For learners, it’s safest to stick to genitive with trotz, especially in writing.
Yes, you can say:
- Obwohl ich nervös bin, bleibe ich ruhig.
Both sentences express the same basic idea: I stay calm in spite of being nervous.
The difference is more about structure than meaning:
Trotz der Nervosität bleibe ich ruhig.
- Uses a preposition + noun structure.
- Focuses on the noun Nervosität as a thing/condition.
Obwohl ich nervös bin, bleibe ich ruhig.
- Uses a subordinating conjunction + clause.
- Focuses on the state “I am nervous” as a full sentence.
Nuance:
- trotz-phrase often feels a bit shorter, more compact.
- obwohl-clause can allow more detail:
Obwohl ich sehr nervös bin und die Situation schwierig ist, …
In everyday speech, both are very common and natural.
German main clauses want the finite verb in second position (Verbzweitstellung).
In Trotz der Nervosität bleibe ich ruhig:
- Trotz der Nervosität = one big first element (the “Vorfeld”)
- bleibe = verb in second position
- ich ruhig = rest of the sentence
Because the first position is already taken by „Trotz der Nervosität“, the subject ich must move after the verb, giving:
- Trotz der Nervosität bleibe ich ruhig.
If you start with the subject instead, you get the more neutral order:
- Ich bleibe trotz der Nervosität ruhig.
Both are correct; the first version puts a bit more emphasis on „trotz der Nervosität“.
Yes:
- Ich bleibe trotz der Nervosität ruhig.
This is fully correct and very natural.
The difference is:
Trotz der Nervosität bleibe ich ruhig.
Emphasizes the contrast right at the beginning: despite the nervousness…Ich bleibe trotz der Nervosität ruhig.
Slightly more neutral; focus begins with ich bleibe (I stay).
In everyday usage, both word orders are common.
Yes, that is possible:
- Trotz Nervosität bleibe ich ruhig.
However, there is a nuance:
trotz der Nervosität
Sounds a bit more specific, as if you’re referring to a concrete, current nervousness (e.g. in this situation, right now).trotz Nervosität
Feels a bit more general or abstract, like “despite (the fact of) nervousness (in general)” or “even when there is nervousness”.
Both are grammatically fine; with the article is slightly more common in everyday speech.
In the sentence „… bleibe ich ruhig“, ruhig is a predicative adjective after the verb bleiben.
In German:
- After verbs like sein, werden, bleiben (to be, to become, to stay), adjectives used as predicates do not take endings:
- Ich bin ruhig.
- Ich bleibe ruhig.
- Ich werde ruhig.
Adjectives only get endings when they directly modify a noun (attributive position):
- ein ruhiger Mensch (a calm person)
- die ruhige Stimme (the calm voice)
- mein ruhiges Kind (my calm child)
So:
- Ich bleibe ruhig. ✅ (predicative → no ending)
- Ich bleibe ruhige. ❌ (wrong here; no noun after it)
Both are possible, but they say slightly different things:
Ich bin ruhig.
Describes a state: I am calm (at this moment).Ich bleibe ruhig.
Describes remaining in that state, emphasizing that you do not lose calmness, even though there is nervousness or pressure.
In Trotz der Nervosität bleibe ich ruhig, bleibe stresses the idea of staying calm despite a reason not to.
You could say:
- Trotz der Nervosität bin ich ruhig.
This is grammatically correct, but it’s a bit less expressive about the idea of “maintaining” calmness. Bleiben fits the contrast with trotz very well.
You can say:
- Trotz meiner Nervosität bleibe ich ruhig.
(Despite my nervousness, I stay calm.)
Here:
- meiner is the possessive pronoun for ich in feminine genitive singular.
- Nervosität is feminine, singular, genitive after trotz.
Some forms for comparison (feminine singular):
- Nominative: meine Nervosität
- Accusative: meine Nervosität
- Dative: meiner Nervosität
- Genitive: meiner Nervosität
So trotz + meiner Nervosität is standard and correct.
Yes, trotzdem is related in meaning. It’s an adverb meaning “nevertheless / nonetheless / despite that”.
You can create a two-sentence version:
- Ich bin nervös. Trotzdem bleibe ich ruhig.
(I am nervous. Nevertheless, I stay calm.)
Structure differences:
trotz + Genitiv-Nomen:
- Trotz der Nervosität bleibe ich ruhig.
trotzdem + Verb in 2nd position:
- Ich bin nervös. Trotzdem bleibe ich ruhig.
You can’t combine them like *Trotzdem der Nervosität bleibe ich ruhig — that’s incorrect. You either use trotz + noun or trotzdem as its own adverb in the second clause.
Approximate pronunciation (IPA):
- Trotz – /tʁɔts/
- Initial tr with a rolled or uvular r, final -z sounds like English “ts”.
- der – /deːɐ̯/ (in many accents), like “day-er” but shorter.
- Nervosität – /nɛʁvoziˈtɛːt/
- Stress on the last syllable: ner-vo-si-TÄT
- Final -t clearly pronounced.
- bleibe – /ˈblaɪbə/
- Like English “BLY-buh”.
- ich – /ɪç/
- Soft ch like in German „ich“, not like English “sh” or “k”.
- ruhig – commonly /ˈʁuːɪç/ or /ˈʁuːɪk/ depending on region
- Often two syllables: ru-ig.
Natural rhythm:
- Trotz der Nervosität | bleibe ich ruhig.
Main stresses on Nervosität and ruhig.