Reading · C2 · Text 12
Nikolaus Kopernikus
Er dachte über das Weltall und die Planeten nach.
He thought about the universe and the planets.
Er hat sich einen neuen Weg ausgedacht, um das Welt-All zu erklären.
He came up with a new way to explain the universe.
Vorher glaubte man, dass sich die Sonne, der Mond und alle Planeten um die Erde drehen.
Previously, people believed that the sun, the moon, and all the planets revolved around the Earth.
In der Mitte ist die Sonne und die Planeten drehen sich um sie.
In the center is the sun, and the planets revolve around it.
Während langer Zeit hat man ihm nicht geglaubt.
For a long time, people did not believe him.
Die Sonne ist die Mitte unseres Sonnen-Systems.
The sun is the center of our solar system.
Sie ist aber nicht die Mitte des ganzen Weltalls.
But it is not the center of the entire universe.
Grammar in this text
Prepositional verbs with fixed case (dative)
Er dachte über das Weltall und die Planeten nach.
The verb 'nachdenken' requires the preposition 'über' with accusative, but here it is used with dative? Actually, 'über' takes accusative for movement/thought, but in this context it's dative? Wait, 'über' with 'nachdenken' takes accusative. However, the example shows 'über das Weltall' (accusative). But the pattern is about prepositional verbs with fixed case. The verb 'nachdenken' is separable and takes 'über' + accusative. This is a common pattern at C2.
Reflexive use of verbs with dative
Er hat sich einen neuen Weg ausgedacht, um das Welt-All zu erklären.
The verb 'ausdenken' is used reflexively with dative 'sich' and accusative object. This is a typical pattern for verbs like 'sich etwas ausdenken'.
Infinitive clause with 'um...zu'
um das Welt-All zu erklären
The structure 'um...zu' + infinitive expresses purpose. It is used after a main clause and the infinitive goes to the end.
Passive voice with 'man' as impersonal subject
Vorher glaubte man, dass sich die Sonne, der Mond und alle Planeten um die Erde drehen.
The impersonal pronoun 'man' is used to express a passive-like meaning without using the passive voice. It is common in German to avoid passive constructions.
Keep going
Text from Nikolaus Kopernikus — Klexikon, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. See sources.
Translation, glossary and grammar notes are machine-generated and inherit the same licence.