Reading · A2 · Text 30

Politiker

82 words1 min read90% known at A2

Viele Leute sind gegenüber Politikern misstrauisch.
Many people are distrustful of politicians.
Sie vermuten, dass Politiker lügen, um jedem sagen zu können, was er gern hören will.
They suspect that politicians lie in order to tell everyone what they want to hear.
Politiker nutzen angeblich die Politik, um selbst reich zu werden, oder sie sind dumm und hören nicht auf das Volk.
Politicians allegedly use politics to become rich themselves, or they are stupid and do not listen to the people.
Das große Problem für Politiker hingegen ist, dass sie es nicht allen recht machen können.
The big problem for politicians, on the other hand, is that they cannot please everyone.
Wenn eine Politikerin für den Bau eines neuen Schwimmbades ist, freut das alle Leute, die das auch wollen.
If a female politician is in favor of building a new swimming pool, that pleases all the people who also want that.
Alle anderen sind dann aber gegen die Politikerin.
But then everyone else is against the female politician.

7 words above A2

misstrauisch

not trusting; suspicious distrustful, suspicious; distrustfully, suspiciously C1

vermuten

to suspect, to assume regular verb: vermutet, vermutete, hat vermutet to assume, suppose, presume, suspect, (US) guess; to suppose someone to be B1/fɛɐ̯ˈmuːtən/

angeblich

allegedly, supposedly alleged, pretended, reported; allegedly, supposedly, reportedly, reputedly B1/ˈanˌɡeːplɪç/

nutzen

to use regular verb: nutzt, nutzte, hat genutzt to make use of; to deploy; to exploit; to harness; to take (the opportunity of); to be useful, to be of use, to do good; to benefit, to help, to do… B1/ˈnʊtsən/

Politik

politics no plural politics; policy B1/poliˈtiːk/

Volk

people, nation plural: Völker people, nation, folk, tribe, race (group united by culture, history, descent, and/or language); people, population, citizens; common people, the… B1/fɔlk/

recht

right, correct (in phrase 'recht machen') used only in fixed expressions like 'es recht machen' right, privilege; title, claim; law (the entirety of legal regulations set in a code of law) B1/ʁɛçt/

Grammar in this text

Subordinate clause with 'dass' (verb at end)

Sie vermuten, dass Politiker lügen

The conjunction 'dass' introduces a subordinate clause, and the finite verb moves to the end of the clause.

Infinitive clause with 'um...zu'

um jedem sagen zu können, was er gern hören will

The structure 'um...zu' expresses purpose ('in order to'). The infinitive with 'zu' appears at the end, and modal verbs are used in the infinitive form.

Relative clause with 'was'

was er gern hören will

The relative pronoun 'was' refers to an indefinite antecedent (here, 'jeden' implied) and introduces a relative clause with verb-final order.

Prepositional phrase with 'gegen' + accusative

gegen die Politikerin

The preposition 'gegen' always takes the accusative case. Here, 'die Politikerin' is in the accusative.

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

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