When studying German at an intermediate or higher level, at a certain point you will come across something called either ‘Nomen-Verb-Verbindung’ or ‘Funktionsverbgefüge’. What does that mean?

Think about the English ’to ask a question’. ‚to ask’ is a verb and ‚question’ is a noun, and so we got a combination of both of them. The point is that you can’t say it in a different way, for example, you can’t say ‘to make a question’ or ‘to put a question’. The latter is actually exactly how it would be in German: ‘eine Frage stellen’. The other way round, the English ‘to ask a question’ would sound likewise weird in German: ‘eine Frage fragen’ is absolutely wrong.

How can you know which verb is required? Are there strategies to learn them? Usually, when you have to learn this structure, you are presented with a list of noun-verb-combinations and …. that’s it. You have to figure out by yourself how to get them into your head. And the list can be pretty long. Here is one:

http://www.dietz-und-daf.de/GD_DkfA/Gramminfo/txt_MII2/FVG-Liste2.pdf

After you have skimmed it through, you might say something like, oh my goodness, how will I ever be able to learn all that stuff? It seems completely random, no way to remember that, and so on. The list looks like a random one, but actually it is not. We can find some rules, which might help you in your memorizing process.

When we start learning a language, we usually go for the meaning. Words with a clear, distinctive meaning like house, dog or to eat are much easier to learn than words which don’t have such a meaning, because we think they don’t add information to what we want to say. Unfortunately, quite often they are required. That is exactly the case here. The verbs involved are so-called functional verbs, because they got a function, but no meaning, or at least almost none. The meaning of ‘eine Frage stellen’ is derived from the noun ‘Frage’. In fact, the combination has more or less the same meaning as the verb ‘fragen’.

So why do we need both’? Often the meaning is slightly different. Sometimes, there is no verb with the same meaning. And a third reason is that these combinations are often part of the written language, so they can be more formal.

However, the question is which verb is used with a certain noun?

First, most of them are basic verbs, like ‘sein, gehen, kommen, bringen, nehmen, stehen, stellen, finden’ etc.  The good news is that the group is quite limited.

Second, you can order them in different groups, and here the meaning comes into play, because it is not completely true that the verbs got no meaning at all. They are not used with their usual meaning, but they still convey a part of it.

For example, ‘stellen’ (to put) is an action verb, because usually, an action is performed. Which nouns can be combined with ‘stellen’?

– einen Antrag stellen (to make an application, to apply for)

For example:

Sie brauchen ein Visum. Haben Sie schon einen Antrag gestellt?

(You need a visa. Did you apply for it?)

Haben Sie schon das Visum beantragt? (Did you apply for the visa?)

The verb’ beantragen’ has the same meaning.

– zur Diskussion stellen (to put up/bring up for discussion)

– in Frage stellen (to contest, to question s.th.)

For example:

Er stellt immer alles in Frage. (All the time, he questions everything.)

– zur Rede stellen (to take sb. to task, to confront)

For example:

Wir müssen ihn morgen zur Rede stellen. (Tomorrow, we must confront him.)

– zur Verfügung stellen (to provide)

All these V-N-combinations are expressing actions performed by somebody.Let’s compare the combinations ‘zur Verfügung stellen’ (to provide) and ‘zur Verfügung stehen’ (to be available). In the first one, somebody provides something, in the latter this is available, for example:

Die Universität stellt den Studenten Computer zur Verfügung.

Den Studenten stehen Computer zur Verfügung.

The first sentence is an action, the second is a description of a situation or, in other words, the result of the action.

Let’s see other examples:

– in Aussicht stehen (with the prospect of)

– in Verbindung stehen (to be in contact with, to be related)

– unter Strafe stehen (to be illegal, to be subject to penalties)

– in Zusammenhang stehen (to be related/connected/associated)

– unter Druck stehen (to be under pressure)

– unter Einfluss stehen (to be under the influence)

– unter Beobachtung stehen (to be/remain under observation)

The last two combinations can be reworded using the passive voice:

‘unter Einfluss stehen’ – beeinflusst werden (to be influenced)

‘unter Beobachtung stehen’ – beobachtet werden (to be observed)

So, ‘stehen’ can also have a passive meaning (as the opposite to an action). However, here the N-V-combination and the passive voice do not have exactly the same meaning. We can see the difference, when we look at the different situations they occur.

Er steht unter Alkoholeinfluss.

We can’t say: Er wird vom Alkohol beeinflusst.

Der Prozess wird durch viele Faktoren beeinflusst.

We can’t say: Der Prozess steht unter dem Einfluss vieler Faktoren.

Another functional verb which describes a situation is – obviously –  ‘sein’.

– in der Lage sein (to be able to)

– zu Ende sein (to be over/finished)

– sich im Klaren sein über (to be aware of)

– im Irrtum sein (to be in the wrong)

– auf dem Laufenden sein (to keep up, to be up to date)

– in Mode sein (to be in fashion/popular)

– im Recht sein  (to be in the right)

– in Bewegung sein  (to be in motion)

Let’s compare these three:

in Bewegung sein – in Bewegung kommen – in Bewegung bringen

Can you feel a difference between them?

We’d said that ‘in Bewegung sein’ describes a situation (where someone or something is already moving), for example:

Er ist immer in Bewegung.

(He is always on the go.)

‘in Bewegung kommen’ means to change the state, actually starting to move, like in:

Die Sache kommt langsam in Bewegung.

(Slowly, the matter starts to move.)

‘in Bewegung bringen’ means that somebody causes the movement, e.g.

Er bringt die Sache langsam in Bewegung.

(Slowly, he makes things hum.)

In order to get this a little bit clearer, we have a look at other combinations with ‘kommen’.

– in Frage kommen (to be possible)

For example:

Können wir heute Abend ins Kino gehen? – Das kommt nicht in Frage.

(May we go to the movies tonight? – That’s not possible.)

– zum Vorschein kommen (to appear, to emerge)

For example:

Bei dem neuen Projekt sind viele Probleme zum Vorschein gekommen.

(Many problems emerged at the new project.)

– zum Ausdruck kommen (to be expressed)

For example:

In dem Brief kamen seine Gefühle gut zum Ausdruck.

(His feelings were expressed very well in the letter.)

And ‘bringen’.

– zum Ausdruck bringen (to express)

For example:
Er brachte seine Gefühle zum Ausdruck.

(He expressed his feelings.)

– zu Ende bringen (to bring to an end, conclude)

For example:

Wir müssen dieses Projekt bald zu Ende bringen.

(We must conclude the project soon.)

– in Verlegenheit bringen (to embarrass, to cause inconvenience)

For example:

Er hat mich sehr in Verlegenheit gebracht.

(He did embarrass me a lot.)

The functional verb ‘treffen’ often seems to have a meaning of conclusion.

– eine Abmachung treffen (to make an arrangement)

– eine Entscheidung treffen (to take a decision)

– eine Wahl treffen (to make a choice)

– Vorsorge treffen (to take precautions)

Another typical functional verb is ‘nehmen’.

– Abschied nehmen (to bid farewell)

– Anstoß nehmen (to take offence, to object)

– Einfluss nehmen (to influence)

– in Kauf nehmen (to accept sth. undesirable)

– Rücksicht nehmen (to be considerate, to have regards for)

Regarding the meaning, what is the relationship between the N-V-combination and the verb itself? It is hard to say, as you can see from the following examples. ‘Abschied nehmen’ sometimes can be replaced by ‘verabschieden’, however, it is more formal. ‘Anstoß nehmen’ can’t be replaced by ‘anstoßen (to launch, to bump, to clink glasses). ‘Einfluss nehmen’ means ‘beeinflussen, but ‘in Kauf nehmen’ has nothing to do with ‘kaufen’. ‘Rücksicht nehmen’ has the same meaning as ‘berücksichtigen’, but is not used in the same circumstances. The combination is usually used with people, while the verb is used with facts, conditions etc.

Finally, something must be said about the grammar of the N-V-combinations. They have some special features.

First, the noun and the verb are joined together very tightly, so that the noun can’t be changed. In most of the cases, it can’t build a plural form; ‘Wahlen treffen’ or ‘Vorsorgen treffen’ are not correct.

Second, when a preposition is part of the combination, we can’t ask for the noun, for example:

Wrong: Wohin hat er mich gebracht? In Verlegenheit.

Third, the verb can’t be used with another object in the same sentence:

Wrong: Er hat mich in Verlegenheit und dann nach Hause gebracht.

Fourth, for N-V-combinations with a preposition the negation is build with ‘nicht’, for example:

Er ist nicht auf dem Laufenden.

Without a preposition ‘kein-‘ is used, for example:

Der Preis spielt keine Rolle.

Fifth, the word order follows the sentence brackets, which means the verb is on the second position and the noun usually on the last.

Er bringt dieses Thema morgen zur Sprache.

Wrong: Er bringt zur Sprache morgen dieses Thema.

Hopefully, by the time you learn these structures, you might be able to guess which verb matches well with a certain noun.