The following short report is invented but written exactly the way German local journalism reads. A news article is the natural home of two grammatical markers that signal how to read it: Konjunktiv I, which flags "this is a source's claim, not the paper's", and the extended participial attribute, a relative clause compressed into a single noun phrase. Learn to spot these two, plus the passive, Präteritum narration, and attribution phrases, and German journalism becomes readable.
The text
Die seit Monaten geplante Sanierung der Hauptbrücke beginnt nach Angaben der Stadtverwaltung am kommenden Montag.
The renovation of the main bridge, planned for months, will begin next Monday according to the city administration.
Die Brücke wurde 1968 errichtet und gilt seit Jahren als marode.
The bridge was built in 1968 and has been considered dilapidated for years.
Wie ein Sprecher des Bauamts mitteilte, sei der Zustand der Konstruktion zuletzt deutlich schlechter geworden.
As a spokesperson for the building authority reported, the condition of the structure had recently deteriorated markedly.
Während der Bauarbeiten werde der Verkehr über eine eigens eingerichtete Umleitung geführt, hieß es weiter.
During the construction work, traffic would be routed via a specially set-up detour, it was further stated.
Laut der am Dienstag verabschiedeten Vorlage belaufen sich die Kosten auf rund zwölf Millionen Euro.
According to the proposal passed on Tuesday, the costs amount to around twelve million euros.
Der Bürgermeister betonte, man habe die Anwohner frühzeitig informiert.
The mayor stressed that the residents had been informed early on.
Kritiker bemängelten dagegen, die Planung sei intransparent gewesen.
Critics, by contrast, complained that the planning had been non-transparent.
Die für den Radverkehr vorgesehene Spur soll nach Abschluss der Arbeiten verbreitert werden.
The lane intended for cycle traffic is to be widened after the work is completed.
Mit einer Fertigstellung wird bis Ende des Jahres gerechnet.
Completion is expected by the end of the year.
Die Umleitung dürfte den Berufsverkehr dem Verkehrsverein zufolge spürbar belasten.
The detour is likely to noticeably burden commuter traffic, according to the traffic association.
Auf einer Bürgerversammlung am Mittwoch versprach die Stadt, die Anwohner regelmäßig über den Fortschritt zu informieren.
At a public meeting on Wednesday, the city promised to inform residents regularly about the progress.
Ob der Zeitplan eingehalten werden kann, bleibt nach Einschätzung von Experten allerdings offen.
Whether the schedule can be kept, however, remains open in the experts' assessment.
Grammar in context
Konjunktiv I: the sustained reporting mood
This is the single most important reading skill for German news. When a paper relays what someone said, it uses Konjunktiv I to mark the words as a claim attributed to a source, not a fact the paper vouches for. The forms look slightly "off": sei (instead of ist), habe (instead of hat), werde (instead of wird). Each one is a flag: the following is the source's statement. The mood persists across whole stretches of text, which is why a single sei can colour several sentences. See Konjunktiv I and reported speech.
Wie ein Sprecher des Bauamts mitteilte, sei der Zustand der Konstruktion zuletzt deutlich schlechter geworden.
As a spokesperson reported, the condition of the structure had recently deteriorated markedly.
Der Bürgermeister betonte, man habe die Anwohner frühzeitig informiert.
The mayor stressed that the residents had been informed early on.
Notice werde in werde der Verkehr...geführt — Konjunktiv I of werden, here inside a reported passive. And sei...gewesen / sei...geworden are the past Konjunktiv I: the source is reporting on something already finished.
Extended participial attributes: a relative clause folded into a noun phrase
The second great hurdle of German journalism. Instead of a relative clause after the noun, German can pack a whole modifier in front of the noun, between the article and the head noun, built around a declined participle. Die [seit Monaten geplante] Sanierung = "the renovation [that was planned for months]". Laut der [am Dienstag verabschiedeten] Vorlage = "according to the proposal [that was passed on Tuesday]". Die [für den Radverkehr vorgesehene] Spur = "the lane [intended for cycle traffic]". The trick to reading: find the article, then jump to the noun, then unpack everything in between as a relative clause. See extended participial attributes.
Die seit Monaten geplante Sanierung der Hauptbrücke beginnt am kommenden Montag.
The renovation of the main bridge, planned for months, will begin next Monday.
Die für den Radverkehr vorgesehene Spur soll verbreitert werden.
The lane intended for cycle traffic is to be widened.
The participle agrees in case, gender and number with its noun (geplante, verabschiedeten, vorgesehene), which is how you know where the attribute ends and the noun begins.
The passive: focus on the event, not the agent
News reports who-did-it less than what-was-done, so the werden-passive is everywhere: wurde...errichtet (was built), werde...geführt (would be routed), soll...verbreitert werden (is to be widened), kann...eingehalten werden (can be kept). The agent is usually omitted because it is irrelevant or obvious. See the werden-passive.
Die Brücke wurde 1968 errichtet und gilt seit Jahren als marode.
The bridge was built in 1968 and has been considered dilapidated for years.
Mit einer Fertigstellung wird bis Ende des Jahres gerechnet.
Completion is expected by the end of the year.
That last one is an impersonal passive of a verb that takes a preposition (mit etwas rechnen) — there is no real subject at all, just es/the fronted phrase. It is a hallmark of officialese.
Präteritum for narration
Where the dialogue pages favour the Perfekt, written news narrates in the Präteritum: wurde errichtet, mitteilte, betonte, bemängelten, versprach, hieß es. In German, the Präteritum is the default written past — newspapers, reports and literature use it rather than the spoken Perfekt. See the Präteritum in writing.
Auf einer Bürgerversammlung am Mittwoch versprach die Stadt, die Anwohner regelmäßig über den Fortschritt zu informieren.
At a public meeting on Wednesday, the city promised to inform residents regularly about the progress.
Attribution phrases: laut, zufolge, nach Angaben
To source a claim without a full sagen-clause, journalism uses compact attribution phrases. laut + dative/genitive ("according to"): laut der Vorlage. zufolge + dative, placed after its noun: dem Verkehrsverein zufolge. And nach Angaben / nach Einschätzung von ("according to the statements/assessment of"). These let the writer attribute crisply and keep the sentence moving. See journalistic style.
Die Umleitung dürfte den Berufsverkehr dem Verkehrsverein zufolge spürbar belasten.
The detour is likely to noticeably burden commuter traffic, according to the traffic association.
Nominal style: actions packed into nouns
Finally, German formal prose prefers nouns over verbs where English would use a verb. nach Abschluss der Arbeiten (after the work is completed → "after completion of the work"), Mit einer Fertigstellung wird...gerechnet (completion → noun), nach Einschätzung von Experten ("in the experts' assessment"). This compression — Nominalstil — makes the register feel dense and official. See nominal style and nominalization.
Die für den Radverkehr vorgesehene Spur soll nach Abschluss der Arbeiten verbreitert werden.
The lane intended for cycle traffic is to be widened after the work is completed.
Vocabulary
| German | Gender | English |
|---|---|---|
| die Sanierung | f. | renovation, refurbishment |
| die Stadtverwaltung | f. | city administration |
| das Bauamt | n. | building authority |
| der Zustand | m. | condition, state |
| marode | — | dilapidated, run-down |
| die Umleitung | f. | detour, diversion |
| die Vorlage | f. | proposal, draft (document) |
| verabschieden | — | to pass (a law/proposal) |
| die Fertigstellung | f. | completion |
| der Berufsverkehr | m. | commuter / rush-hour traffic |
| zufolge (+ dat.) | — | according to |
| der Anwohner | m. | local resident |
Common mistakes
These are the errors learners make when producing news-style German, where the goal is to sound like a neutral reporter.
❌ Der Sprecher sagte, dass der Zustand schlechter geworden ist.
Reads as the paper's own claim; reported speech in news takes Konjunktiv I.
✅ Der Sprecher teilte mit, der Zustand sei schlechter geworden.
The spokesperson reported that the condition had deteriorated.
❌ Die Sanierung, die seit Monaten geplant ist, beginnt am Montag.
Correct but un-journalistic; news compresses the relative clause into a participial attribute.
✅ Die seit Monaten geplante Sanierung beginnt am Montag.
The renovation, planned for months, begins on Monday.
❌ Man hat die Brücke 1968 gebaut.
Too spoken; news uses the passive and the Präteritum, dropping the agent.
✅ Die Brücke wurde 1968 errichtet.
The bridge was built in 1968.
❌ Laut dem Verkehrsverein zufolge wird der Verkehr belastet.
Incorrect — laut and zufolge are two separate attributions; don't stack them.
✅ Dem Verkehrsverein zufolge wird der Verkehr belastet.
According to the traffic association, traffic will be burdened.
❌ Der Bürgermeister betonte, man hat die Anwohner informiert.
Indicative hat breaks the reporting frame; use Konjunktiv I habe.
✅ Der Bürgermeister betonte, man habe die Anwohner informiert.
The mayor stressed that the residents had been informed.
Key takeaways
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- Reported Speech: Tense, Pronoun, and Time ShiftsC1 — The full mechanics of German indirekte Rede — how pronouns, time and place words, and tenses shift when you turn direct speech into reported speech.
- Extended Participial AttributesC1 — A C1 reading deep dive: how to parse the long pre-nominal participial blocks of academic and legal German — stacked attributes, embedded clauses inside the block, and a step-by-step strategy for unpacking them on sight.
- Journalistic StyleC1 — How German news writing works: Konjunktiv I as a sustained sourcing frame, compressed headlines, extended participial attributes, and attribution phrases.
- The Werden-Passive (Vorgangspassiv)B1 — How to form and use the German process passive with werden plus the past participle, including the tricky Perfekt form ist gebaut worden.
- Using the Präteritum in Writing and NarrationB1 — How the Präteritum carries written German narrative, when to drop back to the Plusquamperfekt, and why switching from speech to writing means switching your whole past-tense system.
- Nominal Style (Nominalstil)C1 — How formal, bureaucratic, and academic German packs actions into noun phrases — converting verbs to nominalizations, building genitive chains, and judging when the nominal style helps or harms readability.