1

I’ve never seen before anstatt together with other prepositions. Is it possible to use it in conjunction with the others i.e. anstatt + vor?

Es ist ratsam, Mineralwasser beim Essen zu konsumieren, anstatt es vor der Mahlzeit zu trinken.

2
  • 3
    Aehm, yes? What exactly is your question here?
    – Stephie
    Oct 21, 2015 at 9:56
  • position of anstatt when it is needed to use with vor
    – Dragut
    Oct 21, 2015 at 10:05

5 Answers 5

4

Your sentence is an answer of a Question like:

“When should one drink Water …?”,
“Wann ist es ratsam Mineralwasser zu trinken …?”

with the addition (or focus on the timing)

vor dem Essen oder beim Essen?

and maybe the exact Question was:

Ist es ratsam Wasser vor der Mahlzeit zu trinken oder kann man es beim Essen trinken?

So as you may see the preposition vor has nothing to do with anstatt in your case! The preposition is related to the time when one should drink water, before the meal or at the meal!

2

It’s advisable, to consume water during meals, instead of drinking before meals.
anstatt/instead is referring to the whole part vor der Mahlzeit trinken, while vor/before is part of it indicating the temporal relation.

Es ist ratsam, Mineralwasser beim Essen zu konsumieren, anstatt vor der Mahlzeit trinken.

It’s fine this way, but the sentence lacks a zu before trinken.

Es ist ratsam, Mineralwasser beim Essen zu konsumieren, anstatt vor der Mahlzeit zu trinken.

In any way, it sounds translated, because konsumieren is rarely used in conjunction with water.

2
  • "anstatt" requires always "zu" i think
    – Dragut
    Oct 21, 2015 at 11:15
  • Indeed. As in English, it requires an infinitive if verbs are included.
    – Chieron
    Oct 21, 2015 at 11:20
2

There are two prepositional phrases that are in contrast to each other:

"beim Essen" versus "vor der Mahlzeit"

I shorten the sentence for simplicity

Verb    | Prepositional Phrase | Conjunction | Prepositional Phrase
Trinke    beim Essen             anstatt       vor dem Essen.

So, anstatt and vor are not joint to a single preposition. They are completely independent from each other.

1

This is where you use the so-called da-compounds:

Es ist ratsam, Mineralwasser beim Essen zu trinken anstatt davor.

2
  • very nice advise Elena, and to build like following example also very hard to me,could you please another advise? Anstatt “übertragenen” muss man “übertragenden” schreiben.
    – Dragut
    Oct 21, 2015 at 13:10
  • What does this have to do with your question here? Both are valid forms, but different ones. Which form you choose depends entirely on the context.
    – elena
    Oct 21, 2015 at 14:23
0

I think you parse this sentence wrong. "anstatt" is not used here with "vor". "Anstatt" is used here with "vor der Mahlzeit trinken". Compare: "... instead of drinking before meal".

2
  • you mean i should consider the whole phrase: "vor der Mahlzeit trinken" not only the preposition: "vor" :-/ ?
    – Dragut
    Oct 21, 2015 at 10:46
  • @Bergmann Yes. "Anstatt" refers to the whole phrase.
    – Eller
    Oct 21, 2015 at 11:20

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.