"Anfrage nach..." is it correct?

Question

I have seen the expression "Anfrage nach..." many times before (on German websites, in the books). As we are currently translating our Website into German, I decided to check if it is correct. The following article made me doubt:

"Gerade im geschäftlichen Bereich ist die Redewendung „Anfrage nach,…“ sehr gebräuchlich. Obwohl sie oft verwendet wird, ist sie eigentlich falsch. Die Präposition „nach“ wird in keinem Fall in Zusammenhang mit diesem Substantiv verwendet. Genau dasselbe gilt für Präpositionen wie „auf“, „an, „über“ etc."

The authors suggest using "Wegen" instead. Could anyone clarify the situation? Which preposition do people use in Germany? Is "Anfrage nach" totally incorrect? What is the best way to say "Anfrage ... ein Angebot"

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:42

Since it's Frage nach one would think that it would be Anfrage nach, but I have to agree with the article. Can't tell you if it's completely incorrect, since historically, it wouldn't have been used this way in the first place. (It would have been something like anfragen bei jemandem + relative clause)

Personally, I wouldn't recommend nach, because (following my intuition) the two prepositions, an and nach, don't fit together, here.

So Anfrage in connection with some noun usually comes with wegen:

Anfrage wegen dem Angebot
Anfrage wegen des Angebots
Wegen dem Angebot anfragen
Wegen des Angebots anfragen

Note however, that this is not asking for some offer, but about it. Also consider simply using Anfrage, if it's clear from context what the Anfrage is about.

Bezüglich is a nice choice, too (comes with genitive, see other answer). I like the following combination:

Anfrage bezüglich des Angebots (noun version)
wegen dem Angebot anfragen (verb version)

Thank you for your answer! Does it make difference if you use Dativ or Genetiv after wegen? According to Duden "wegen Dativ" is colloquial. — Ispirer SQLWays Migrations, Oct 28 '14 at 13:51
@IspirerSQLWays Opinions digress - it's a complicated topic. See this nice article about that. Try to find out what your superiors would want, if you have any. — , Oct 28 '14 at 13:54
@IspirerSQLWays The meaning is the same/both variants will be equally understood. — , Oct 28 '14 at 13:55

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 28 '14 at 13:35

In Duden – Richtiges und gutes Deutsch, 6. Aufl. Mannheim 2007 findet man die folgende Aussage:

Anfrage wird in der Regel mit der Präposition wegen verbunden: Ihre Anfrage wegen des Termins haben wir erhalten. In der Amts- und Kaufmannssprache wird auch mit der Präposition bezüglich angeschlossen: Ihre Anfrage bezüglich der Lieferungen beantworten wir folgendermaßen …

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 28 '14 at 18:32

Whoever writes "Anfrage nach" does not know German well. This happens with Germans, too, of course, in the same way that Americans also make mistakes in English. Correct versions would be "Anfrage wegen +Genitiv", "Anfrage zu +Dativ" or - best and most formal - "Anfrage bezüglich +Genitiv". The word "Anfrage" is formal anyway (usually used in written German only), so it should go with the correct "bezüglich". One example would be "Ihre Anfrage bezüglich der Hausordnung". This sounds best, but "Ihre Anfrage wegen der Hausordnung" or "Ihre Anfrage zur Hausordnung" would be correct, too.

"Anfrage nach..." is it correct?

3 Answers3