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B1 reading: long sentences, and how to take them apart Vibedu CounsellingBook Free Counselling
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B1 reading: long sentences, and how to take them apart

A German sentence keeps its verb for the end. Read to the full stop before you decide what it said.

9 min read

At B1 the texts are newspaper articles, forum posts, workplace information — and the sentences get long. A single German sentence can hold two or three clauses, with the verb of each waiting at its end, which is exactly what makes a word-by-word reader run out of patience.

Take them apart mechanically.

Find the commas. In German the comma is a structural marker, not a breath: it separates clauses. Each chunk between commas usually has one verb.

Find each chunk's verb and put it back next to its subject in your head. "Obwohl er seit drei Jahren in München lebt, hat er noch nie den Englischen Garten besucht." Chunk one: er lebt in München. Chunk two: er hat besucht. Now the sentence is two simple facts joined by "although".

Learn the joins, because they tell you the relationship before you decode the content: weil (because), obwohl (although), damit (so that), während (while / whereas), nachdem (after), sobald (as soon as), trotzdem (nevertheless), deshalb (therefore). Spotting "obwohl" tells you a contrast is coming even if you do not yet know the words that follow.

Do not stop at unknown words. German builds long compounds from short parts, and you can often split them: Arbeitserlaubnis = Arbeit + Erlaubnis = work permission. Krankenversicherung = Kranken + Versicherung = sickness insurance. Guessing from parts is a real skill in this language and it is faster than a dictionary.

Finally: read to the full stop before answering. The verb at the end can reverse everything you assumed — and "nicht" often sits near it.

Do this now

Five to ten minutes. This is the part that moves your band.

Take one B1-level German article — Deutsche Welle publishes news in slow, graded German free. Choose five long sentences, split each at its commas, and write the simple facts they contain. Fifteen minutes.

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