Reading · A2 · Text 15

Preußen

51 words1 min read80% known at A2

Wenn heute jemand sagt, er sei Preuße, dann meint er vielleicht, dass er sehr genau denkt und arbeitet.

If someone today says they are a Prussian, they might mean that they think and work very precisely.

An Preußen erinnern noch die Namen von Städten wie Preußisch-Oldendorf.

The names of towns like Preußisch-Oldendorf still remind us of Prussia.

Auch die Kleidung der deutschen Fußball-Nationalmannschaft hat mit Preußen zu tun: Die Farben Schwarz und Weiß kommen von der preußischen Flagge.

The clothing of the German national football team also has to do with Prussia: The colors black and white come from the Prussian flag.

4 words above A2

Flagge
flag Plural: die Flaggen.
Nationalmannschaft
national team Plural: die Nationalmannschaften. In the text: 'Fußball-Nationalmannschaft'.
Preuße
Prussian (a person from Prussia) Plural: die Preußen.
preußischen← preußisch
Prussian Inflected form: dative feminine singular after 'der' in 'der preußischen Flagge'.

Grammar in this text

Subordinate clause with 'dass' (verb at the end)

dass er sehr genau denkt und arbeitet.

In a clause introduced by 'dass', the conjugated verb moves to the very end. This is a fundamental German word order rule.

Inversion after a prepositional phrase at the beginning

An Preußen erinnern noch die Namen von Städten wie Preußisch-Oldendorf.

When a sentence starts with an element other than the subject (here the prepositional phrase 'An Preußen'), the finite verb comes before the subject. This is known as inversion.

Accusative case after a two-way preposition

An Preußen

The preposition 'an' is a two-way preposition. In the fixed expression 'erinnern an' (to remember), 'an' takes the accusative case. Here 'Preußen' is the object of the preposition.

Keep going

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

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