zufolge (according to)

Meaning

'zufolge' is a preposition that means 'according to' (also 'as reported by', 'as stated in'). It marks the source of a piece of information - a report, a survey, a witness, a study, a contract - and signals that the following statement is not the speaker's own claim but is attributed to that source.

Case government - the key point

'zufolge' behaves differently depending on its position:

• Postposed (nachgestellt) - the normal, dominant form - takes the DATIVE.
• dem Bericht zufolge (according to the report)
• einer Umfrage zufolge (according to a survey)
• den Zeugen zufolge (according to the witnesses - plural dative ends in -n)
• Preposed (vorangestellt) takes the GENITIVE. This is rarer and more formal:
• zufolge des Berichts (according to the report)

In everyday and journalistic German you will almost always see the postposed dative form, so learn that one as your default.

Word order

The noun-plus-zufolge phrase very often stands in the Vorfeld (first position) of the sentence. Because German is a verb-second (V2) language, the finite verb then comes immediately after the whole phrase:

• Dem Bericht zufolge sind die Preise gestiegen. (position 1 = the phrase, position 2 = the verb sind)
• Einer Studie zufolge schlafen viele Menschen zu wenig.

Dative endings to watch

Because the noun is in the dative, remember the endings:

• masculine/neuter singular: dem Bericht, dem Gutachten
• feminine singular: der Statistik, einer Umfrage
• plural: den Zeugen, aktuellen Studien (plural dative usually adds -n to the noun and -en to preceding adjectives)

The most common mistake

Learners often keep the genitive even when 'zufolge' follows the noun: des Berichts zufolge is wrong - the postposed form needs the dative, dem Bericht zufolge. A second pitfall is confusing the preposition zufolge with the adverb demzufolge ('therefore, accordingly'), which is a single word and draws a conclusion rather than citing a source.

Examples

• Der Statistik zufolge sinkt die Arbeitslosigkeit. (According to the statistics, unemployment is falling.)
• Augenzeugen zufolge fuhr das Auto zu schnell. (According to eyewitnesses, the car was driving too fast.)
• Dem Vertrag zufolge zahlt der Mieter die Nebenkosten. (According to the contract, the tenant pays the utilities.)

'zufolge' means 'according to' and normally follows its noun, which stands in the dative case.

Postposed 'zufolge' (the normal case) governs the dative: 'dem Bericht zufolge', 'einer Umfrage zufolge', 'den Zeugen zufolge'. The whole phrase often opens the sentence, so the finite verb comes right after it (V2): 'Dem Bericht zufolge steigen die Preise.' Preposed 'zufolge' + genitive ('zufolge des Berichts') exists but is rarer and more formal. Do not confuse the preposition 'zufolge' with the adverb 'demzufolge' (= therefore/accordingly).

'zufolge' bedeutet 'laut / gemäß' und steht meist hinter dem Nomen, das im Dativ steht.