Reading · C1 · Text 9
Küste
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
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.