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Romanes

56 words1 min read100% known at C1

Es heißt, dass ungefähr dreieinhalb Millionen Menschen Romanes können.
It is said that approximately three and a half million people can speak Romanes.
So gut wie jeder von ihnen spricht außerdem noch eine weitere Sprache.
Almost all of them also speak another language.
Manche Roma sind dagegen, dass Fremde ihre Sprache lernen.
Some Roma are opposed to foreigners learning their language.
Das kommt daher, dass sie Fremden misstrauen und eine eigene Sprache für sich haben wollen.
This is because they distrust foreigners and want to have their own language for themselves.
Für Wissenschaftler ist es dann schwierig, mehr über Romanes zu erfahren.
For scientists, it is then difficult to learn more about Romanes.

16 words above C1

heißt← heißen

to be said, to be called irregular: heißt, hieß, hat geheißen to have a name; to be named; to be called; but implying that one “owns” this name, not necessarily that one goes by it; to mean, to signify; to have… A1/ˈhaɪ̯sən/

ungefähr

approximately, about approximate; about; approximately B1/ˈʊnɡəfɛːɐ̯/

Millionen← die Million

millions plural: die Millionen million (10⁶) A1/mɪˈli̯oːn/

So gut wie← so gut wie

almost, practically fixed expression

jeder

everyone, each one declined as adjective; here nominative masculine each; each, every A1/ˈjeːdɐ/

spricht← sprechen

speaks irregular: spricht, sprach, hat gesprochen to speak (some language, the truth, etc.); to speak, to talk, to give a speech; to say, to speak (a word, phrase, sentence, prayer, etc.) A1/ˈʃprɛçən/

außerdem

besides, in addition in addition; furthermore, besides A2[ˈaʊ̯sɐdeːm]

weitere

further, additional declined as adjective; here attributive

Sprache

language plural: die Sprachen language (body of words, and set of methods of combining them); speech (style of speaking); speech (faculty of uttering articulate sounds or words;… A1/ˈʃpʁaːxə/

Manche← manche

some (people) indefinite pronoun, plural

sind dagegen← dagegen sein

to be against it fixed expression with sein; separable? Actually 'dagegen' is an adverb, but used with sein

Fremde

strangers, foreigners nominalized adjective; plural: die Fremden foreign land C1/ˈfʁɛmdə/

lernen

to learn regular to learn, to acquire knowledge; to study (revise or review materials); to train to become something A1/ˈlɛrnən/

Das kommt daher, dass← daherkommen, dass

This is because fixed expression; 'daherkommen' is a verb, but here used as a phrase

misstrauen

to distrust, mistrust takes dative object; regular to mistrust, to suspect, distrust, have doubts about C1/mɪsˈtʁaʊ̯ən/

eigene← eigen

own declined as adjective; here attributive own, peculiar or private to someone, idiosyncratic, proper or proprietary; one’s own, possession; real estate, property A1/ˈaɪ̯ɡən/

Grammar in this text

Subjunctive in reported speech (Konjunktiv I)

Es heißt, dass ungefähr dreieinhalb Millionen Menschen Romanes können.

The verb 'heißt' introduces an indirect statement, but the subjunctive is not used here; instead, 'dass' clause with indicative. However, the structure 'Es heißt, dass' is a common way to report what people say. The subjunctive would be used in more formal indirect speech, but here it's indicative.

Subordinate clause with 'dass' (verb-final)

dass sie Fremden misstrauen

The conjunction 'dass' introduces a subordinate clause, and the finite verb is placed at the end. This is a fundamental word order rule in German.

Infinitive clause with 'zu'

schwierig, mehr über Romanes zu erfahren

The infinitive with 'zu' is used after certain adjectives like 'schwierig'. The infinitive phrase functions as a subject or object and is placed after the main clause.

Prepositional phrase with 'für' + accusative

für sich haben wollen

The preposition 'für' takes the accusative case. Here 'sich' is reflexive and in the accusative, used with the verb 'haben' and modal 'wollen' to express wanting something for oneself.

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Same text, graded forC2 version

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

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