Reading · A2 · Text 20
Albrecht Dürer
Dürer starb im Jahr 1528. Ob er vorher schwer krank war, lässt sich heute nicht genau sagen.
Dürer died in 1528; whether he was seriously ill before that cannot be said with certainty today.
Er hinterließ seiner Frau ziemlich viel Geld.
He left his wife quite a lot of money.
Sein Haus, in dem er wohnte und arbeitete, ist heute ein Museum.
His house, where he lived and worked, is a museum today.
4 words above A2
Grammar in this text
Subordinate clause with 'ob' (verb-final word order)
Ob er vorher schwer krank war
The conjunction 'ob' (whether) introduces an indirect question. In this subordinate clause, the finite verb 'war' must go to the end.
Relative clause with a prepositional relative pronoun
in dem er wohnte und arbeitete
The relative pronoun 'dem' (dative of 'der/das') follows the preposition 'in', forming a relative clause that describes 'Haus'. The verbs 'wohnte' and 'arbeitete' are placed at the end of the clause.
Passive substitute with 'sich lassen' + infinitive
lässt sich heute nicht genau sagen
The construction 'sich lassen' + infinitive expresses a passive meaning ('can be done'). Here 'lässt sich sagen' literally means 'lets itself say', i.e., 'cannot be said'.
Keep going
Text from Albrecht Dürer — Klexikon, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. See sources.
Translation, glossary and grammar notes are machine-generated and inherit the same licence.