C1 · Grammar · Partizipialkonstruktionen
German Participial Clauses: In Berlin angekommen, rief er an
The ruleA participle phrase set off by a comma replaces an adverbial clause, and its unstated subject must be the subject of the main clause.
Where the extended attribute compresses a relative clause, this compresses an adverbial one. It belongs to written German (narrative, journalism, academic prose) and it is comfortably the most elegant construction the language has for saying two things at once.
The two participles
| Participle | Reading | Example | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partizip I | Simultaneous, active | Lachend verließ er den Raum. | Er lachte und verließ den Raum. |
| Partizip II | Prior or passive | In Berlin angekommen, rief er sofort an. | Nachdem er in Berlin angekommen war, … |
- Von allen Seiten kritisiert, trat der Minister zurück. Criticised on all sides, the minister resigned. Partizip II, passive and prior.
- Aus dem Fenster blickend, dachte sie an ihre Kindheit. Looking out of the window, she thought about her childhood. Partizip I, simultaneous.
- Genau betrachtet, ist das Ergebnis wenig überraschend. Looked at closely, the result is hardly surprising. A fixed formula: one of a small set that behaves adverbially.
The subject rule
The participle has no subject of its own, so it borrows the main clause's. If the two do not match, the sentence says something absurd: the same dangling-participle error English has, but far more conspicuous in German because the construction is more formal.
Where it goes wrong
In Berlin angekommen, war das Wetter schlecht.
In Berlin angekommen, stellte er fest, dass das Wetter schlecht war.
The participle's implied subject is whoever arrived, and the main clause's subject is das Wetter, so the sentence says the weather arrived in Berlin. Either give the main clause the right subject or use a full clause with nachdem.
The fixed adverbial formulas
A closed set of Partizip II phrases has frozen into adverbs and is exempt from the subject rule. These are worth knowing actively: they are common in essays and in argumentative writing.
| Phrase | Means |
|---|---|
| genau genommen | strictly speaking |
| kurz gesagt | in short |
| so gesehen | seen that way |
| verglichen mit | compared with |
| abgesehen von | apart from |
| vorausgesetzt | assuming |
| angenommen | supposing |
| zusammenfassend | to summarise |
zusammenfassend is a Partizip I and is the standard opening of a concluding paragraph: Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass …, a formula worth having memorised for any C1 writing task.
Common questions
What is a participial construction in German?
A participle phrase, set off by a comma, that replaces an adverbial subordinate clause: 'In Berlin angekommen, rief er an' for 'Nachdem er in Berlin angekommen war, rief er an'. Partizip I gives a simultaneous reading, Partizip II a prior or passive one.
Whose subject does the participle take?
The main clause's: it has none of its own. If the implied subjects differ the sentence becomes nonsense, exactly as with a dangling participle in English, and a full subordinate clause has to be used instead.
Are participial constructions still used in German?
In writing, yes: journalism, academic prose and literary narrative use them constantly. In speech they are essentially absent. The frozen adverbial phrases (kurz gesagt, abgesehen von, zusammenfassend) are the exception and appear everywhere.
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