Reading · C1 · Text 9

Küste

58 words1 min read100% known at C1

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.

14 words above C1

coast plural: Küsten B1/ˈkʏstə/
border, boundary plural: Grenzen border; limit; frontier B1/ˈɡrɛn.t͡sə/
festen← fest
solid, firm here: 'festes Land' = mainland feast, celebration, festival, party; firm; compact; hard; firm; fixed; rigid A2/fɛst/
land plural: Länder 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 form of Fluss river; flow A1/flʊs/
Seen← der See
lakes plural form of See (masculine) lake; sea, ocean; sea, sea condition, swell A1/zeː/
bank, shore plural: Ufer (same) shore, shoreline; bank B1/ˈuːfəʁ/
Wellen← die Welle
waves plural form of Welle wave (of water); wave, curve, anything wave-shaped (e.g. hair); shaft (mechanical component) B2/ˈvɛlə/
storm plural: Stürme A strong, blustery wind; gust; gale; squall; storm, tempest; storm, rush, attack B1/ʃtʊrm/
verloren← verlieren
lost past participle; infinitive: verlieren, verlor, 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; spülte weg, weggespült
Steil-Küste← die Steilküste
cliff coast compound noun; plural: Steilküsten
trifft← treffen
meets, hits 3rd person singular present; infinitive: treffen, traf, getroffen to meet; to encounter; to hit; to strike; to affect; to concern A1/ˈtʁɛfən/
immediately immediately, at once A1/zoˈfɔʁt/

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 or conditional situation. It is used here to describe what would happen if too much land were lost.

Infinitive with 'zu' after 'es soll'

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

The construction 'sollen + zu + infinitive' expresses a recommendation or intention. Here, 'soll' is used impersonally to state a goal or rule.

Past participle as adjective (Partizip II)

verloren gehen

The past participle 'verloren' is used with 'gehen' to form a passive-like meaning of being lost. It functions as an adjective in the predicate.

Compound nouns (Komposita)

Steil-Küste

Two nouns are combined to form a new noun with a specific meaning. Here, 'Steil' (steep) + 'Küste' (coast) creates 'Steilküste' (cliff coast).

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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.