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I thought both of them mean the same – to stay overnight. Which to use in which case?

  1. das Übernachten
  2. die Übernachtung
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    What's your mother-tongue? Perhaps this is a feature which occur in your language as well. It's like in English: to read => the reading - to write => the writing. You have a verb and make it a noun. Hence; verb: übernachten - Noun: das Übernachten.
    – Em1
    Jul 15, 2013 at 13:58

1 Answer 1

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Übernachtung is usually the noun you are looking for, and way more common. It often refers to the accommodation where you stay overnight as well (Übernachtung in einem Hotel):

Wir brauchen ein Hotel für die nächste Übernachtung.

You will just get das Übernachten when reformulating sentences with the verb übernachten:

Es ist verboten, hier zu übernachten. => Übernachten verboten!

Es hat mir gefallen, bei dir zu übernachten. => Das Übernachten bei dir war schön.

Als wir übernachtet haben, passierte etwas. => Beim Übernachten passierte etwas.

This is a style of writing German which you can avoid by using the verb.

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