Reading · C2 · Text 37

Farbe

49 words1 min read100% known at C2

Die Farben kann man in einem Kreis auf-malen. rot, violett, blau, grün, gelb, orange und wieder rot.

The colors can be painted in a circle: red, violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red again.

Braun entsteht, wenn man von allen Farben ein wenig zusammen mischt.

Brown is created when you mix a little of all colors together.

Weiß entsteht, wenn man Licht von allen Farben zusammen mischt.

White is created when you mix light of all colors together.

Es ist einfach dunkel, wie in einem Raum ohne Licht.

It is simply dark, like in a room without light.

9 words above C2

auf-malen← aufmalen

to paint/draw (on a surface) separable verb: auf|malen

entsteht← entstehen

arises, is created irregular: entsteht, entstand, ist entstanden to come into being, to arise, to be produced; to develop B1/ʔɛntˈʃteːən/

mischen

to mix regular verb to mix; to shuffle; gerund of mischen B1/ˈmɪʃn̩/

dunkel

dark dark; deep; vague, faint A2/ˈdʊŋkəl/

Licht

light no plural light (electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum); light (a light source, often artificial); candle A2/lɪçt/

Raum

room plural: Räume space; capacity, volume, room; room, chamber A2/ʁaʊ̯m/

wenig

little, a small amount used here as an indefinite pronoun little, few (a small amount, a small number) A1/ˈveːnɪk/

zusammen

together together, jointly; together, in the same place; in a romantic relationship with each other A1/tsuˈzamən/

einmal

once, one time once, one time (one and only one time); once (formerly; during some period in the past); sometime (at an indefinite but stated time in the past or… A1/ˈaɪ̯nmaːl/

Grammar in this text

Passive voice with 'entsteht' (statal passive)

Braun entsteht, wenn man von allen Farben ein wenig zusammen mischt.

The verb 'entstehen' is used here in the active voice but conveys a passive meaning ('is created'). It is formed with the auxiliary 'sein' in the perfect tense, but here it's in present tense. The structure is: subject (Braun) + verb (entsteht) + subordinate clause.

Subordinate clause with 'wenn' (conditional/temporal)

wenn man von allen Farben ein wenig zusammen mischt.

The conjunction 'wenn' introduces a subordinate clause that expresses a condition or time. The verb is placed at the end of the clause (mischet). This is a key feature of German subordinate clauses.

Impersonal 'man' construction

wenn man von allen Farben ein wenig zusammen mischt.

The pronoun 'man' is used as an impersonal subject meaning 'one' or 'you' in a general sense. It is always singular and takes the verb in the third person singular.

Prepositional phrase with 'von' + dative

von allen Farben

The preposition 'von' requires the dative case. Here 'allen Farben' is dative plural. This structure is used to indicate the source or origin of something.

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Same text, graded forB2 version C1 version

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

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