Reading · B2 · Text 38

Gewissen

62 words1 min read98% known at B2

Ganz kleine Kinder haben noch kein Gewissen.
Very young children do not yet have a conscience.
Sie müssen noch lernen, was Gut und Böse bedeutet und was am Bösen schlimm ist.
They still have to learn what good and evil mean and what is bad about evil.
Allerdings gibt es Leute, die es nie lernen.
However, there are people who never learn it.
Sie kennen den Unterschied von Gut und Böse nicht oder es macht ihnen nichts aus, Schlechtes zu tun.
They do not know the difference between good and evil, or they do not care about doing bad things.
Es kann sein, dass das an ihrem Gehirn liegt, dass sie also krank sind.
It may be that it is due to their brain, that they are sick.

9 words above B2

Gewissen

conscience, moral sense no plural conscience (moral sense or faculty) B1/ɡəˈvɪsən/

Böse

evil, wrong nominalized adjective, no plural evil; malicious; wicked; bad; naughty; mean, dark (of jokes, satire, tricks, etc.) A2/ˈbøːzə/

schlimm

bad, serious, severe comparative: schlimmer, superlative: am schlimmsten bad, terrible, serious (seriously bad), dire, horrible, awful; hurting, ill, infected; badly, severely A2/ʃlɪm/

Allerdings← allerdings

however, but sentence adverb but, however; indeed! A1/ˈʔalɐdɪŋs/

Unterschied

difference plural: die Unterschiede A2/ˈʔʊntɐˌʃiːt/

macht ... aus← ausmachen

to matter, to bother separable verb; present: macht aus, past: machte aus, perfect: ausgemacht to turn off, switch off; to put out, to extinguish; to agree (to), to settle on ; to schedule, to make (an appointment) A2/ˈʔaʊ̯smaxn̩/

Schlechtes← das Schlechte

bad things, wrong nominalized adjective, no plural

Gehirn

brain plural: die Gehirne B1/ɡəˈhɪʁn/

krank

sick, ill comparative: kränker, superlative: am kränksten ill, sick (in bad health); sick, morally or mentally degenerate; very interesting or unusual (in the positive or negative); sick A1/kʁaŋk/

Grammar in this text

Subordinate clause with 'was' as relative pronoun

was Gut und Böse bedeutet

The relative pronoun 'was' refers to an indefinite antecedent (here implied 'das') and introduces a relative clause with verb at the end.

Subordinate clause with 'dass' (conjunction)

dass das an ihrem Gehirn liegt

The conjunction 'dass' introduces a subordinate clause with the finite verb at the end. It is used here as a subject clause after 'Es kann sein'.

Infinitive clause with 'zu'

Schlechtes zu tun

The infinitive with 'zu' is used after certain verbs (here 'es macht ihnen nichts aus') to express an action. The infinitive goes to the end.

Modal verb with infinitive

Sie müssen noch lernen

The modal verb 'müssen' is conjugated in second position, and the main verb 'lernen' appears as an infinitive at the end of the sentence.

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Same text, graded forA2 version B1 version

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

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