1

In an attempt to translate "I want to start work", I said:

Ich will zum Arbeiten anfangen.

But I was corrected to:

Ich will zu Arbeiten anfangen.

Please tell me if you do or do not agree with this correction, and why.

Here are only some of the related examples from DWDS:

Schizopolis, 1996 (Filmuntertitel) Eigentlich wollte ich wieder mit dem Arbeiten anfangen, wenn Emily geboren ist,... aber das hat nicht wirklich geklappt.

Born Yesterday, 1950 (Filmuntertitel) Ich hab mit 10 Jahren das Arbeiten angefangen.

dann habe ich gleich am nächsten Tag das Arbeiten angefangen.

Berliner Zeitung, 15.09.2000 Die Arbeiten haben bereits angefangen.

Wo ich überall meine Finger drin hab @ Xooyoo. blog.xooyoo.de, 2010-10-09 Seit gut 2 Jahren darf ich mich Dipl.- Ing. (FH) nennen, und nach 26 Jahren Bildung sollte man doch mal ein klein wenig zu Arbeiten anfangen.

Improve this question
3
  • One of these examples is not like the others: in "die Arbeiten haben angefangen", "die Arbeiten" is the subject of "anfangen". It is rightfully capitalized as the nom. plur. of the noun "Arbeit". It is not a form of the verb "arbeiten", so it doesn't really count towards your list.
    – marquinho
    Commented Mar 24, 2023 at 11:31
  • 1
    In addition to what @marquinho already wrote, the last example is incorrect capitalization, correct would be "... sollte man doch mal ein klein wenig zu arbeiten anfangen."
    – HalvarF
    Commented Mar 24, 2023 at 12:30
  • 1
    Zu Arbeiten dieses Hauses äußere ich mich nicht. - Naja, sie müssten erstmal anfangen zu arbeiten. - Willst Du Ihnen zuarbeiten? - Nein, ich schaffe es nicht zur Arbeit dahin zu kommen, auch keine externen Zuarbeiten. - Ja, man muss überhaupt erst zum Arbeiten kommen können. (a bit absurd, but could be a conversation with several of the uses)
    – planetmaker
    Commented Mar 25, 2023 at 5:07

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4

Neither. It must be

Ich will zu arbeiten anfangen.

or

Ich will anfangen zu arbeiten.

The verb anfangen can take a zu-Infinitiv as a complement. It's what you want to start doing. This is especially common if you want to add additional information.

Ich will anfangen, an meiner Hausaufgabe zu arbeiten.

Mind the comma. You have to make it a clause as soon you add additional information.

If you wanted to use the nominalized infinitive of the verb arbeiten instead, you had to use the correct preposition for that. The verb anfangen can take an adverbial introduced with mit.

Ich will mit dem Arbeiten anfangen.

Ich will mit dem Arbeiten an meiner Hausaufgabe anfangen.

In this phrasing, a clause is not necessary for adding additional information.

And finally, in this context, you may use the noun die Arbeit as well.

Ich will mit der Arbeit anfangen.

Ich will mit der Arbeit an meiner Hausaufgabe anfangen.

Improve this answer
6
  • I am not so concerned with what I should do, as I am concerned with why others do what they do. zu Arbeiten and zum Arbeiten are used extensively, and I wish to know why, in every case, if possible.
    – user44591
    Commented Mar 23, 2023 at 22:11
  • 3
    Get zu Arbeiten out of your mind. That one is from the noun die Arbeit and super rare. What you need to tell apart is zu arbeiten and das Arbeiten. Both are made from the verb arbeiten. The first is the zu-Infinitiv and the latter is the nominalized infinive. The zu-Infinitiv is good for giving shortcut arguments to verbs that allow it, and for infinitive clauses. The nominalized infinitive is good for every occasion where a noun would come in handy. Zum Arbeiten is just a use case of das Arbeiten used as an argument for the preposition zu.
    – Janka
    Commented Mar 23, 2023 at 22:17
  • 1
    Please also note the double function of zu as either a particle of the zu-Infinitiv and as a preposition. Same as in English, this accounts for endless confusion.
    – Janka
    Commented Mar 23, 2023 at 22:19
  • Seems like the right way to view these many variations. German is particularly hard because German speakers appear to make up the language as they go along, at times. Thanks.
    – user44591
    Commented Mar 23, 2023 at 22:37
  • 1
    Certainly not. You first have to have a clear concept whether you use/have a noun or a verb. Then the rest follows stringently
    – planetmaker
    Commented Mar 24, 2023 at 1:17
2

It is good that you are a using a good dictionary, but using a dictionary that is primarily aimed at native speakers requires practice and some grammar knowledge. Also, you could make better use of the actual dictionary. In this case, the important part is the verb anfangen. At the beginning of 1a of the entry you find three relevant ways to use it:

  • etwas anfangen
  • anfangen etwas zu tun
  • mit etwas anfangen

The second variant requires an infinitive, the other two a noun. That noun can be a nominalised verb. The second variant is what makes this correct (notice the lower case “arbeiten”):

Ich will zu arbeiten anfangen.

You have also found examples of the other two variants in the corpus.

Improve this answer

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.