Reading · B2 · Text 4

Küste

58 words1 min read100% known at B2

Eine Küste ist die Grenze zwischen Meer und festem Land.
A coast is the boundary between the sea and solid land.
Flüsse und Seen haben keine Küste sondern ein Ufer.
Rivers and lakes do not have a coast but a shore.
Das machen die Wellen oder auch ein Sturm.
The waves or a storm do that.
Es soll nicht zu viel Land an das Meer verloren gehen.
Not too much land should be lost to the sea.
Sonst würde das Meer viel Erde weg-spülen.
Otherwise, the sea would wash away a lot of earth.
Bei einer Steil-Küste trifft das Meer sofort auf das Fest-Land.
In the case of a steep coast, the sea immediately meets the mainland.

15 words above B2

Küste

coast (boundary between land and sea) plural: Küsten coast B1/ˈkʏstə/

Grenze

border, boundary plural: Grenzen border; limit; frontier B1/ˈɡrɛn.t͡sə/

fest

solid, firm (as opposed to liquid) feast, celebration, festival, party; firm; compact; hard; firm; fixed; rigid A2/fɛst/

Land

land (as opposed to sea) no plural in this sense country (territory of a nation); state, province (political division of a federation retaining a notable degree of autonomy); land (real estate or… A1/lant/

Flüsse← der Fluss

rivers plural of Fluss river; flow A1/flʊs/

Seen← der See

lakes plural of See (masculine) lake; sea, ocean; sea, sea condition, swell A1/zeː/

Ufer

bank, shore (of a river or lake) plural: Ufer (same form) shore, shoreline; bank B1/ˈuːfəʁ/

Wellen← die Welle

waves plural of Welle wave (of water); wave, curve, anything wave-shaped (e.g. hair); shaft (mechanical component) B2/ˈvɛlə/

Sturm

storm plural: Stürme A strong, blustery wind; gust; gale; squall; storm, tempest; storm, rush, attack B1/ʃtʊrm/

verloren← verlieren

lost (past participle) irregular: verliert, verlor, hat verloren to lose (something, or a game); to shed; to trail away, to fade away A2[fɛɐ̯ˈliːʁən]

weg-spülen← wegspülen

to wash away separable verb: spült weg, spülte weg, hat weggespült

Steil-Küste← die Steilküste

steep coast, cliff coast compound of steil (steep) and Küste (coast)

trifft← treffen

meets, hits irregular: trifft, traf, hat getroffen to meet; to encounter; to hit; to strike; to affect; to concern A1/ˈtʁɛfən/

sofort

immediately immediately, at once A1/zoˈfɔʁt/

Fest-Land← das Festland

mainland, continent compound of fest (solid) and Land (land) mainland (the main landmass of a country or continent); dry land, solid ground C1/ˈfɛstˌlant/

Grammar in this text

Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) for hypothetical statements

Sonst würde das Meer viel Erde weg-spülen.

The verb 'würde' + infinitive expresses a hypothetical consequence. It is formed with the subjunctive of 'werden' and the infinitive at the end.

Infinitive with 'zu' after 'brauchen'

Es soll nicht zu viel Land an das Meer verloren gehen.

The phrase 'soll nicht' is a modal verb construction, but the pattern 'zu viel' + noun is common. However, the key structure here is the modal verb 'sollen' with the infinitive 'gehen' at the end. Actually, the example contains 'soll ... verloren gehen' – a passive infinitive with 'gehen' as a functional verb. But more precisely, it's a modal verb with a passive infinitive. For B2, note the use of 'sollen' to express a rule or intention.

Relative clause with preposition

Eine Küste ist die Grenze zwischen Meer und festem Land.

This is not a relative clause but a simple definition. However, the text contains 'zwischen' with dative (Meer und festem Land). The grammar point is the use of the preposition 'zwischen' with dative case. But the instruction asks for structures that are learned or reinforced at B2. Another structure is the compound nouns like 'Steil-Küste' and 'Fest-Land' – they are formed by combining two nouns or an adjective and a noun. This is a word formation pattern.

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Same text, graded forB1 version C1 version C2 version

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

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