Reading · B1 · Text 39

Ballett

43 words1 min read95% known at B1

Die zweite Übungs-Art macht man in der Mitte des Raums.

The second type of exercise is done in the middle of the room.

Es geht darum, sicher und gerade zu stehen, auch auf einem Bein.

It's about standing safely and straight, even on one leg.

Dann kommen verschiedene Schritte und kleine, schnelle Sprünge hinzu.

Then various steps and small, quick jumps are added.

Man übt also vorerst keine ganzen Stücke, sondern nur einzelne Teile.

So for now, you don't practice whole pieces, but only individual parts.

3 words above B1

Übungs-Art← die Übungsart
type of exercise compound noun; plural: die Übungsarten
sprünge← der Sprung
jump plural: die Sprünge jump, leap; crack B2/ʃpʁʊŋ/
Stücke← das Stück
piece, part (here: dance routine) plural: die Stücke one, item, piece, unit(of something countable; often untranslated in English); head (a single animal); piece (portion of something bigger or of an… A1/ʃtʏk/

Grammar in this text

Prepositional phrase with 'in' + dative (Wechselpräposition)

in der Mitte des Raums

'in' is a two-way preposition; here it takes the dative case (der Mitte) because it indicates location (where?).

Infinitive clause with 'darum, ... zu'

Es geht darum, sicher und gerade zu stehen

'darum' + infinitive with 'zu' expresses the purpose or topic. The infinitive verb goes to the end.

Separable verb 'hinzukommen' in present tense

Dann kommen verschiedene Schritte und kleine, schnelle Sprünge hinzu.

'hinzukommen' is a separable verb; in a main clause, the prefix 'hinzu' is separated and placed at the end.

Adversative conjunction 'sondern'

sondern nur einzelne Teile

'sondern' is used after a negative clause to introduce a contrasting positive statement, meaning 'but rather'.

Keep going

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

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