Der Infinitivsatz — Adverbial Phrases with “Zu”

I. Theory

In German, the preposition zu operates similarly to the English “to” when used with verbs. This lesson discusses adverbial phrases (a clause that shows how or why an action is performed) that contain zu. In these clauses, zu is found before a verb in the infinitive form.

Wir sollten uns morgen treffen, um das Projekt zu diskutieren. We should meet tomorrow (in order) to discuss the project. Sie hat die Dateien gelöscht, ohne jemanden darüber zu informieren. She deleted the files without telling anyone. Anstatt eine neue Wohnung zu finden, werde ich bei meinen Eltern wohnen. Instead of finding a new apartment, I will live with my parents.

II. Adverbial Phrases

In this lesson, we will cover 3 adverbial phrases: um … zu, anstatt … zu, and ohne … zu. As you can see in the examples above, each of three phrases contains a middle field where additional information such as nouns or adverbs can be inserted. Adverbial phrases are their own clause and thus are separated from other clauses with a comma.

Um … zu