Learn Hardcore German: Manchmal ist es effektiver, ein Wort im Kontext nachzuschlagen, statt nur die Übersetzung zu lesen. - Sometimes it is more effective to look up a word in context instead of just reading the translation.

German often likes a subject in the V2 (verb-second) main clause slot, even when the “real” content of the sentence comes later, in an infinitive clause:

Manchmal ist es effektiver, ein Wort im Kontext nachzuschlagen …
= Sometimes it is more effective to look up a word in context …

In English you also use a dummy subject “it” here:

Sometimes *it is more effective to look up a word in context …*

The “real” action (to look up a word in context, instead of just reading the translation) is expressed by the infinitive phrase after the comma, but German still puts es in the main clause as a formal subject.

You could also rephrase without es, but the structure would change, e.g.:

Manchmal ist ein Wort im Kontext nachzuschlagen effektiver als …
This sounds more formal and slightly clunky; the original with es is more natural.

Why is it “effektiver” and not “mehr effektiv”?

German usually forms the comparative of most adjectives by adding -er to the adjective:

effektiv → effektiver (effective → more effective)
schnell → schneller (fast → faster)
schön → schöner (beautiful → more beautiful)

Using “mehr effektiv” is grammatically possible but sounds less idiomatic and often a bit clumsy in this kind of sentence. Native speakers overwhelmingly prefer:

Es ist effektiver, … rather than Es ist mehr effektiv, …

Reserve “mehr” + adjective mainly for:

adjectives that don’t easily take -er (e.g. some participles), or
special stylistic emphasis.

Here, “effektiver” is simply the normal, natural comparative form.

What does “nachzuschlagen” mean, and why is it written as one word at the end?

“nachzuschlagen” is the infinitive form of the separable verb nachschlagen (to look up, as in a dictionary).

Base verb: schlagen (to hit, to strike)
With prefix: nachschlagen
Meaning: to look up (information)

Separable verbs split in normal main clauses:

Ich schlage das Wort im Wörterbuch nach.
(verb part 2nd → schlage, prefix at the end → nach)

In infinitive form with zu, the zu goes between the prefix and the verb stem, and the whole thing stays together at the end of the clause:

ein Wort im Kontext nachzuschlagen
(ein Wort … → object, nachzuschlagen → “to look up”)

So:

nachschlagen → basic infinitive
nachzuschlagen → infinitive with zu used in constructions like „es ist besser, X zu tun“.

Why do we say “ein Wort im Kontext nachzuschlagen” and not something like “ein Wort im Kontext zu nachschlagen”?

Because of the rule for separable verbs with “zu”:

The zu goes between the separable prefix and the verb stem, not in front of the whole verb.

So:

nachschlagen → nachzuschlagen
aufstehen → aufzustehen
mitkommen → mitzukommen

These are one word in the infinitive-with-zu form.
Forms like “zu nachschlagen” or “zu aufstehen” are incorrect.

Why is it “ein Wort” (accusative) here? What case is that?

“ein Wort” is in the accusative case because it’s the direct object of the verb nachschlagen:

Wen oder was schlägt man nach? → ein Wort
(What do you look up? → a word)

In German, direct objects of most verbs take the accusative.
The forms of “ein Wort” (neuter noun) are:

Nominative: ein Wort (as subject)
Accusative: ein Wort (same form for neuter)

So you don’t see a change in form here, but functionally it’s accusative.

What is “im Kontext” exactly? Why not “in dem Kontext”?

“im” is a contraction of “in dem”:

in dem Kontext → im Kontext

We use “in” + dative when it means “in/inside” a location or situation, including abstract ones like context:

in dem Kontext (dative) → in the context
in dem Haus → im Haus (in the house)
in dem Text → im Text (in the text)

So “im Kontext” literally is “in the context”, but very often it’s used more generally as “in context” (without a specific “the” being stressed, just like English can say “in context”).

How does “statt” work here? Does it need a special case or structure?

In this sentence, “statt” introduces an infinitive clause:

… ein Wort im Kontext nachzuschlagen, statt nur die Übersetzung zu lesen.
(… to look up a word in context instead of just reading the translation.)

When “statt” is followed directly by a noun, it normally takes the genitive:

statt des Buches (instead of the book)

But here it’s followed by a second infinitive phrase with “zu” (nur die Übersetzung zu lesen), so you don’t see any case marking; it just links two alternative actions:

X tun, statt Y zu tun
(to do X instead of doing Y)

So the pattern is:

Es ist effektiver, [X zu tun], statt [Y zu tun].

Why is there a comma before “statt nur die Übersetzung zu lesen”?

The comma separates two infinitive clauses that are in contrast:

ein Wort im Kontext nachzuschlagen
nur die Übersetzung zu lesen

German normally puts a comma before “statt” when it introduces a second infinitive clause (or similar subordinate element) that is being contrasted with the first:

Es ist besser, früh zu gehen, statt länger zu bleiben.
Sie versucht, Deutsch zu sprechen, statt auf Englisch zu wechseln.

So the comma marks the boundary between:

the main infinitive idea (the recommended action) and
the alternative/action to be avoided introduced by statt.

Could I say “Es ist manchmal effektiver …” instead of “Manchmal ist es effektiver …”?

Yes. Both are grammatically correct, but the focus is slightly different:

Manchmal ist es effektiver, …
- Emphasis starts on “Manchmal” (“Sometimes …”), then comes ist in second position (V2 rule), and es follows. Very natural, typical word order.
Es ist manchmal effektiver, …
- Emphasis starts on “Es” (“It is sometimes more effective …”).
- Still natural, just slightly more neutral/less rhythmical.

Both are common. The given version sounds a bit more “German-like” in style because time adverbs (like manchmal, oft, heute) are often placed at the beginning of the sentence.

Why is it “nur die Übersetzung zu lesen” and not “nur Übersetzung zu lesen”?

German uses articles more consistently than English.

In English, “just reading the translation” and “just reading a translation” and “just reading translations” are all possible, but in this educational context we usually mean “the” translation of this word or sentence.

So German uses the definite article:

die Übersetzung = the translation (of that specific word/text)

Without the article (“nur Übersetzung zu lesen”) it would sound incomplete or wrong in standard German. In many countable nouns, especially in singular, you generally need some determiner:

die Übersetzung, eine Übersetzung, diese Übersetzung, etc.

Here, die Übersetzung is the natural choice.

What’s the difference between “nachschlagen” and other verbs like “nachsehen” or “nachgucken”?

All can translate roughly as “to look up / look something up”, but there are nuances:

nachschlagen
- Most typical for books/reference works: dictionaries, encyclopedias, grammar books.
- More “bookish” or formal.
- Ich schlage das Wort im Wörterbuch nach. (I look the word up in the dictionary.)
nachsehen
- Very common and fairly neutral.
- Can be used for “checking” something anywhere: on paper, online, physically.
- Ich sehe schnell nach, wie das funktioniert. (I’ll quickly check how that works.)
nachgucken / nachschauen
- Colloquial; often for screens, notes, quick checks.
- Ich gucke kurz nach. (I’ll quickly check.)

In the context of studying vocabulary and using dictionaries, “ein Wort im Kontext nachzuschlagen” fits particularly well, because it strongly suggests looking it up in some reference source (paper or digital).