Mein Freund ist an einer Verletzung gestorben.

Sentence Discussions German
#1
English Translation

My friend died from an injury.

I prefer “Mein Freund starb aufgrund einer Verletzung” over using “an einer Verletzung” thua avoiding the “an” anathema for native English speakers.

#2

It’s similar to

  • to die of/from something (usually used in combination with an injury or disease)
  • to die due to something

You could say:

  • He died of lung cancer. / Er starb an Lungenkrebs.
  • He died due to his cigarette addiction. / Er starb aufgrund seiner Zigarrensucht.

He didn’t die of his addiction. The addiction itself didn’t kill him, cancer did. But the addiction led to his death.

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#3

In the case of “Verletzung”, I’d say both “an” and “aufgrund” work, because it’s a matter of perspective.

You can either say the “Verletzung” is the direct cause of the death, in which case you’d use “an”, or you could say the injury caused things like loss of blood, an infection, etc. in which case you’d use “aufgrund”.

It’s sometimes hard to tell where the line is, but usually diseases like cancer and injuries are regarded as direct causes, and an addiction is certainly an indirect cause.

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#4

I completely agree with you.

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