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Reading · A1 · Text 1

Sage

20 words1 min read100% known at A1

Oft weiß man heute nicht, von wem eine Sage ist.

Often today one does not know who a legend is from.

Sagen haben die Leute lange Zeit immer nur weiter erzählt.

For a long time, people only kept telling legends.

6 words above A1

von wem
from whom interrogative pronoun with dative
eine Sage← die Sage
a legend, saga plural: Sagen saga, legend, myth, story, tale C1/ˈzaː.ɡə/
Sagen← die Sage
legends, sagas plural form saga, legend, myth, story, tale C1/ˈzaː.ɡə/
die Leute← die Leute
people plural only people (several individual persons, a group of people in general, esp. of one kind or another), folk (folks), peeps (slang), guys (boys and/or girls) A1/ˈlɔɪ.tə/ [ˈlɔe̠.t(ʰ)ə]
lange Zeit
for a long time adverbial phrase
weiter erzählt← weitererzählen
to pass on (a story), to retell separable verb: weitererzählen, erzählte weiter, weitererzählt

Grammar in this text

Indirect question with 'von wem'

Oft weiß man heute nicht, von wem eine Sage ist.

The phrase 'von wem' introduces an indirect question, which uses normal word order (subject-verb) but is embedded in a main clause. It asks about the origin or author of something.

Present perfect tense with 'haben'

Sagen haben die Leute lange Zeit immer nur weiter erzählt.

The present perfect (Perfekt) is formed with the auxiliary 'haben' and the past participle 'erzählt'. The separable prefix 'weiter' is placed at the end of the sentence in the main clause. This tense is used to talk about past events.

Word order with adverbs and time expressions

Oft weiß man heute nicht, von wem eine Sage ist.

In German main clauses, the finite verb is in second position. Here, 'Oft' (adverb) is in first position, so the verb 'weiß' follows immediately. The adverb 'heute' and the negation 'nicht' appear after the verb and object.

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Text from Sage — MiniKlexikon, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. See sources.

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