Reading · B2 · Text 36

Gewicht

63 words1 min read98% known at B2

Das Gewicht zeigt an, wie schwer etwas ist.

The weight indicates how heavy something is.

Ein Mensch, ein Tier, Wasser und sogar die Luft.

A person, an animal, water, and even the air.

Nur Licht oder Gedanken und solche Dinge haben kein Gewicht.

Only light or thoughts and such things have no weight.

Wir geben Gewichte meist in den Maß-Einheiten an.

We usually specify weights in units of measurement.

Es kommt drauf an, in welchem Landes-Teil der Zentner gilt.

It depends on which part of the country the hundredweight applies to.

Früher rechnete man bei uns auch mit Pfund.

In the past, we also calculated with pounds.

Ein Pfund Brot war ein halbes Kilo Brot.

A pound of bread was half a kilogram of bread.

14 words above B2

weight plural: Gewichte weight; importance B1/ɡəˈvɪçt/
zeigt an← anzeigen
indicates, shows separable verb: anzeigen, zeigt an, zeigte an, hat angezeigt to display, to show (a measurement e.g. time, temperature, speed etc.); to indicate; to announce (a marriage, engagement, change of premises etc.);… B1[ˈʔantsaɪ̯ɡŋ̩]
wie schwer← schwer
how heavy used in indirect question heavy, weighty; indigestible; grave, severe, intense, serious, heavy A1/ʃveːɐ̯/
even even, actually, in fact A2/zoˈɡaːɐ̯/
Maß-Einheiten← die Maßeinheit
units of measurement plural: Maßeinheiten
kommt drauf an← darauf ankommen
depends on separable verb: ankommen, kommt an, kam an, ist angekommen; 'drauf' is colloquial for 'darauf'
Landes-Teil← der Landesteil
region, part of a country plural: Landesteile
Zentner
unit of weight equal to 50 kg in Germany, 100 kg in Austria/Switzerland plural: Zentner
gilt← gelten
is valid, applies strong verb: gelten, gilt, galt, hat gegolten to be valid; to count; to hold true; to be effective; to be in force; to be worth B1/ˈɡɛltn̩/
Früher← früher
in the past, formerly former, erstwhile, previous (that which once was, but no longer is); formerly, in the past (often years ago, in contrast to nowadays) A2
rechnete← rechnen
calculated, counted regular verb: rechnen, rechnete, hat gerechnet to count, reckon, calculate, compute; to count on, expect; to pay off, to be profitable A2/ˈʁɛçnən/
pound (unit of weight) plural: Pfunde a metric pound, 500 grams, half a kilogram; any of the English (Anglophone) units of mass or currency called a "pound"; a hard shot at the goal B2/pfʊnt/
half half, halfway; a half-hour before, thirty minutes before (used with the number of the following hour) B1
kilo, kilogram plural: Kilos kilo B2

Grammar in this text

Indirect question with 'wie'

Das Gewicht zeigt an, wie schwer etwas ist.

The clause after 'wie' is an indirect question with verb at the end, used to express a question embedded in a statement.

Separable verb in main clause

Das Gewicht zeigt an, wie schwer etwas ist.

The verb 'anzeigen' is separable; in a main clause, the prefix 'an' goes to the end, and the conjugated part 'zeigt' stays in second position.

Subordinate clause with 'dass' (implied)

Es kommt drauf an, in welchem Landes-Teil der Zentner gilt.

The structure 'es kommt darauf an' is followed by a subordinate clause introduced by a question word ('in welchem'), with the verb at the end.

Prepositional phrase with 'in' + dative

in welchem Landes-Teil

The preposition 'in' takes the dative case when indicating location (where something is valid), and 'welchem' is the dative form of 'welcher'.

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

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