Reading · A1 · Text 29

Nigeria

69 words1 min read70% known at A1

Wer arm und krank ist, braucht die Hilfe seiner Familie.
Whoever is poor and sick needs the help of their family.
Nur wer für die Regierung arbeitet, bekommt Hilfe vom Staat.
Only those who work for the government receive help from the state.
Es gibt keine Krankenkasse und keine Altersvorsorge.
There is no health insurance and no retirement provision.
Viele Menschen werden krank weil sie sich aus religiösen Gründen nicht impfen lassen wollen.
Many people get sick because they do not want to get vaccinated for religious reasons.
Nicht einmal jeder zweite hat sauberes Trinkwasser.
Not even one in two people has clean drinking water.
Die meisten Kinder besuchen zwar am Anfang die Schule, wenn sie älter werden ist es aber nicht einmal mehr die Hälfte.
Most children do attend school at first, but when they get older, it is not even half anymore.

17 words above A1

bekommt← bekommen

gets, receives strong verb: bekommt, bekam, bekommen

Menschen← der Mensch

people, human beings plural of der Mensch; singular: der Mensch

Staat

state, government plural: die Staaten

Regierung

government plural: die Regierungen government/administration; the act of governing B2/reˈɡiːrʊŋ/

besuchen

to visit, attend (school) to visit, to see; to attend A2/bəˈzuːxn̩/

lassen

to let, have (something done) strong verb: lässt, ließ, gelassen; with inf. = causative

Anfang

beginning, start in 'am Anfang' = at the beginning

Hälfte

half plural: die Hälften

Gründen← der Grund

reasons dative plural of der Grund; in 'aus Gründen' = for reasons ground, land (usually as someone's property); bottom (of a container or a body of water); reason; motive, cause A2/ɡʁʊnt/

zweite

second ordinal; 'jeder zweite' = every second person

sauberes← sauber

clean neuter form: sauberes Trinkwasser clean; neat, tidy; good, all right A2/ˈzaʊ̯bɐ/

religiösen← religiös

religious dative plural adjective: aus religiösen Gründen

Trinkwasser

drinking water uncountable

am← an dem

at the, on the contraction of an + dem

vom← von dem

from the contraction of von + dem

zwar

indeed, admittedly often with 'aber' as 'zwar ... aber' Signals a following contrary clause, which is usually introduced with aber (“but”), stressing that the speaker is aware of the contradiction, but… B2/tsvaːr/

meisten← meist

most always with definite article: die meisten = most (people)

Grammar in this text

Relative clause with 'wer' (indefinite relative pronoun)

Wer arm und krank ist, braucht die Hilfe seiner Familie.

'wer' means 'whoever' / 'anyone who'. It introduces a subordinate clause in which the verb goes to the end (here 'ist'). The main clause follows with its verb in second position.

Subordinate clause with 'weil' (verb-final)

weil sie sich aus religiösen Gründen nicht impfen lassen wollen

'weil' (because) introduces a subordinate clause. The conjugated finite verb moves to the very end. Here 'wollen' is the finite verb and comes after two infinitives ('impfen lassen').

Reflexive 'lassen' + infinitive (causative/passive)

sich aus religiösen Gründen nicht impfen lassen

'sich + lassen + infinitive' means 'to have something done to oneself' or 'to allow oneself to be ...'. Here it means 'to get vaccinated'. The reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject.

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Text from Nigeria — Klexikon, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. See sources.

Translation, glossary and grammar notes are machine-generated and inherit the same licence.