Reading · B1 · Text 10

Bundestag

68 words1 min read99% known at B1

Ein Mitglied des Bundestages bekommt Geld für sich selbst, damit er davon leben kann.
A member of the Bundestag receives money for themselves so that they can live on it.
Das nennt man die Diäten.
This is called the Diäten.
Dazu bekommt er aber zusätzlich noch Geld, damit ihm nichts für seine Arbeit fehlt.
In addition, they also receive extra money so that they lack nothing for their work.
Davon stellt er Mitarbeiter ein, die ihm helfen.
With this, they hire staff to help them.
Sie regeln für ihn, was er wann machen will, oder sie besorgen für ihn wichtige Bücher.
They arrange for them what they want to do when, or they procure important books for them.
Manche sind Wissenschaftler, andere Sekretäre.
Some are scientists, others are secretaries.
Insgesamt gibt es etwa 4.500 solcher Mitarbeiter.
In total, there are about 4,500 such staff members.

14 words above B1

bundestages← der Bundestag

German parliament Genitive singular Bundestag; federal/state parliament B2/ˈbʊndəsˌtaːk/

mitglied← das Mitglied

member plural: Mitglieder B1/ˈmɪtˌɡliːt/

diäten← die Diät

parliamentary allowance plural only in this sense diet B1/diˈɛːt/

dazu

in addition in addition to it, in addition, besides; for that purpose; to it, to that A1/daˈtsuː/

fehlt← fehlen

to be missing intransitive, dative object for there to be a lack [with dative ‘to someone/something’ and an (+ dative) ‘of something’] (idiomatically translated by English lack with the… A2/ˈfeːlən/

stellt ein← einstellen

to hire separable verb, present tense to hire (to add someone to a position of employment); to adjust, to set; to prepare, to adjust, to adapt to something or someone B1[ˈʔaɪ̯nʃtɛln̩]

mitarbeiter← der Mitarbeiter

employee, staff member plural same as singular employee (person who works, together with others, in a particular business or institution); collaborator (person who works with others towards a… A2/ˈmɪtarˌbaɪ̯tər/

helfen

to help irregular: hilft, half, geholfen; dative object to help (someone); to assist; to aid A1/ˈhɛlfn̩/

regeln

to organize, manage regular to regulate; to control (to adjust an apparatus); to take care of, to deal with, to see to (errands, a situation, a small task) B1/ˈʁeːɡl̩n/

besorgen

to get, procure regular to deal, to manage, to procure; to get, to obtain; to give (it to someone), to satisfy carnally B1

wissenschaftler← der Wissenschaftler

scientist, researcher plural same as singular scientist; scholar, researcher, academic (male or of unspecified gender) B1/ˈvɪsn̩ʃaftlɐ/

sekretäre← der Sekretär

secretary plural: Sekretäre secretary (male or unspecified sex); official of an organization; high-ranking member in the Central committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany B1/zekreˈtɛːr/

insgesamt

in total overall, altogether, in total, all in all, by and large, on the whole B1/ˈɪnsɡəˌzamt/

solcher← solch

such demonstrative pronoun, plural genitive A2/zɔlç/

Grammar in this text

Dative after prepositions

damit ihm nichts für seine Arbeit fehlt

The preposition 'mit' (in 'damit') requires dative, and the verb 'fehlen' takes a dative object (ihm).

Relative clauses with verb-final word order

die ihm helfen

Relative pronouns introduce subordinate clauses where the conjugated verb goes to the end.

Subordinate clauses with 'damit'

damit er davon leben kann

'damit' introduces a purpose clause, and the verb is placed at the end of the clause.

Genitive with proper nouns

Ein Mitglied des Bundestages

The genitive case is used to show possession, here 'des Bundestages' means 'of the parliament'.

Keep going

B1 · Text 9 Religion 99% known · 81 words Read B1 · Text 11 Gewissen 98% known · 62 words Read Practice B1 reading questions Comprehension and true/false items on texts like this one. Test yourself

Same text, graded forB2 version C1 version C2 version

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

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