“Especially because” in German

Question

I often want to express a sentiment like:

It was so nice to be outside this summer, especially because the winter was so cold!

Literally translated, especially because would be insbesondere weil … I’m not sure if this is just wrong, or if it sounds like German obviously translated from English. What would be a better to express this idea in more natural German?

Diesen Sommer war es so schön draußen zu sein, gerade wegen des kalten Winders. — jawo, Oct 05 '15 at 11:11
Es war draußen so schön diesen Sommer, besonders da der Winter so kalt war. — dakab, Oct 06 '15 at 20:00
Funny, I always get the feeling I’m using a Germanism when I write especially because. — Crissov, Jul 07 '16 at 09:09

score 25 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 04 '15 at 22:52

25

besonders weil
insbesondere weil
gerade weil
vor allem weil

sind alles mögliche Alternativen, die im Deutschen gang und gäbe sind.

answered Oct 04 '15 at 22:52

user unknown

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Das klingt nicht seltsam?: "Es war diesen Sommer so schön draußen zu sein, insbesondere weil der Winter so kalt war." – Phil Braun Oct 05 '15 at 23:59
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Oder 'insbesondere da der Winter...' oder wie Wrztprmft schreibt, 'gerade nach ...'. – user unknown Oct 06 '15 at 00:14
@Phil Braun you can further shorten your sentence in german we would say it like: "Es war diesen Sommer so schön draußen, besonders weil es im Winter so kalt war". – Tom Wellbrock Oct 06 '15 at 09:54
insbesondere klingt schon ein wenig gestelzt wenn man vom Wetter spricht. – Wolf Oct 09 '15 at 14:03

score 17 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:52

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A somewhat more free translation would involve not using a subclause:

[…], gerade nach dem kalten Winter.

[…], insbesondere angesichts des kalten Winters. [rather formal]

[…], erst recht nach dem kalten Winter. [rather colloquial]

In my opinion, these variants are more idiomatic.

edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:52

Community

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answered Oct 05 '15 at 08:35

Wrzlprmft

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score 6 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 08 '15 at 11:23

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As others already pointed out, your translation is perfectly fine. However, one suggestion has not yet been made. IMHO, one of the best ways (stylistically) to translate your example sentence would be by using zumal:

Es war (so) schön …, zumal der Winter sehr kalt war.

Yet, using zumal should perhaps not be your first choice in a colloquial conversation. It may be considered to be a bit old-fashioned.

edited Oct 08 '15 at 11:23

Jan

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answered Oct 06 '15 at 09:26

ClintEastwood

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zumal ist in bestimmten Wendungen absolut gebräuchlich, klar nicht in allen, in dieser aber schon. – Wolf Oct 09 '15 at 13:58

score 3 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 05 '15 at 16:42

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You could switch the order of the sentence:

Gerade aufgrund des Winters Kälte war es schön, im Sommer draußen zu sein.

edited Oct 05 '15 at 16:42

Robert

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answered Oct 05 '15 at 14:09

Martin Wagner

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Almost sounds like poetry. – hiergiltdiestfu Oct 06 '15 at 12:36
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@hiergiltdiestfu Besser wäre hier wohl Nach des Winters Kälte – Wolf Oct 09 '15 at 13:57
What about Gerade nach dem kalten Winter war es schön, im Sommer draußen zu sein. which is much simpler (to understand)? – Wolf Oct 09 '15 at 14:02

JFS · Answer 5 · 2015-10-05T20:45:04.497

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"Vor allem weil..." fits perfect in this case. It's not formal. It is rather the usual phrase to emphasize something. "Insbesondere" is too formal to be used in everyday language.

edited Oct 05 '15 at 20:45

answered Oct 05 '15 at 20:18

JFS

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Welcome to German Language SE. Can you please expand your answer in a way that it adds something to User Unknown’s answer? – Wrzlprmft Oct 05 '15 at 20:26
This is either a comment to user unknown’s answer who already noted these expressions or a duplicate of his answer. As such, it should be deleted/converted. – Jan Oct 06 '15 at 10:12
Just go ahead... Knock yourself out. – JFS Oct 06 '15 at 18:11

“Especially because” in German

5 Answers5