Reading · C1 · Text 45

Depression

153 words2 min read99% known at C1

Eine Depression ist eine psychische Erkrankung.

Depression is a mental illness.

Das Denken und Fühlen der erkrankten Menschen ist aus der Bahn geraten.

The thinking and feeling of affected people has gone off track.

Das kann auch gefährlich sein: Depressive Menschen fühlen sich sehr schlecht und manche wollen deshalb ihr Leben selbst beenden.

This can also be dangerous: Depressed people feel very bad, and some therefore want to end their own lives.

Deshalb ist es wichtig, dass depressive Menschen Hilfe bekommen.

That is why it is important that depressed people receive help.

Depressiv wird man oft, weil man etwas Schlimmes erlebt hat.

People often become depressed because they have experienced something terrible.

Vielleicht ist ein geliebter Mensch gestorben, oder man hat besonders großen Ärger im Beruf oder in der Familie.

Perhaps a loved one has died, or one has particularly great trouble at work or in the family.

Manche Menschen erkranken leichter an einer Depression als andere: das mag von Geburt an so sein.

Some people fall ill with depression more easily than others: this may be so from birth.

Es ist nicht immer leicht zu erkennen, warum jemand depressiv geworden ist.

It is not always easy to recognize why someone has become depressed.

Es macht deshalb auch keinen Sinn, danach zu fragen, wer an der Depression Schuld habe.

It therefore also makes no sense to ask who is to blame for the depression.

Weder der depressive Mensch noch seine Freunde oder seine Familie müssen Schuld an etwas sein.

Neither the depressed person nor their friends or family need to be at fault for anything.

Es ist wichtiger zu fragen: Wie kommt dieser Mensch wieder aus der Depression heraus, damit er wieder ein normales Leben hat.

It is more important to ask: How does this person get out of the depression again, so that they can have a normal life again.

18 words above C1

a mental illness characterized by persistent sadness and loss of interest plural: Depressionen depression C1/depʁɛˈsi̯oːn/
psychische← psychisch
relating to the mind; mental psychical C1/ˈpsyːçɪʃ/
illness, disease plural: Erkrankungen the act or process of falling ill; illness; disease C1/ɛrˈkraŋkʊŋ/
erkrankten← erkrankt
affected by illness; sick participle used as adjective
aus der Bahn geraten
to be thrown off course; to be derailed idiomatic expression
dangerous dangerous, hazardous A2/ɡəˈfɛːɐ̯lɪç/
Depressive← depressiv
depressive; suffering from depression used as noun here: depressive people depressive C1/depʁɛˈsiːf/
to end, to put an end to regular verb: beendete, beendet to finish, to complete, to (bring/put to an) end; to terminate; to exit A2[bəˈʔɛndn̩]
erlebt← erleben
to experience, to go through regular: erlebte, erlebt to experience; to see, live to see, witness; to undergo B1/ʔɛɐ̯ˈleːbm̩/
geliebter← geliebt
beloved, loved participle used as adjective
gestorben← sterben
to die strong verb: stirbt, starb, ist gestorben A2/ˈʃtɛrbən/
trouble, annoyance, anger no plural annoyance, anger; trouble, an unpleasant or dangerous situation; The letter Ä in the German and Austrian spelling alphabets. A2/ˈʔɛɐ̯ɡɐ/
to become ill, to fall ill regular: erkrankte, ist erkrankt to fall ill, to sicken C1[ʔɛɐ̯ˈkʁaŋkn̩]
to recognize, to identify irregular: erkennt, erkannte, erkannt to recognize, perceive; to realize, detect, see, know, identify, discover, understand B1/ɛɐ̯ˈkɛnən/
sense, point no plural in this context sense; meaning, sense (the objects or concept that a word or phrase denotes, or that which a sentence says); point, idea, tenor B1/sɪn/
guilt, fault no plural debt; fault; guilt B1/ʃʊlt/
Weder ... noch← weder ... noch
neither ... nor correlative conjunction
out (from inside) used with verbs to indicate direction out of (in the direction of the speaker); out over here; out from there A2[hɛˈʁaus]

Grammar in this text

Subordinate clause with 'dass' (verb at end)

Deshalb ist es wichtig, dass depressive Menschen Hilfe bekommen.

The conjunction 'dass' introduces a subordinate clause, and the finite verb moves to the end of the clause.

Subordinate clause with 'weil' (verb at end)

Depressiv wird man oft, weil man etwas Schlimmes erlebt hat.

The conjunction 'weil' introduces a causal subordinate clause, and the finite verb (here 'hat') is placed at the end.

Subjunctive I (Konjunktiv I) for indirect speech

Es macht deshalb auch keinen Sinn, danach zu fragen, wer an der Depression Schuld habe.

The verb 'habe' is in Konjunktiv I, used here to report a question indirectly, giving a sense of reported speech.

Infinitive clause with 'um ... zu'

damit er wieder ein normales Leben hat.

Although not 'um ... zu', the clause with 'damit' expresses purpose; however, the text also contains 'um ... zu'? Actually, the text has 'damit' which is a purpose conjunction. But the pattern 'um ... zu' is not present. Instead, we have 'damit' clause. Let's adjust: The text contains a final clause with 'damit' (so that), which is a common structure at C1.

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Same text, graded forA1 version

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

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