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You already know the modal verb **sollen** as a way to give advice or express an obligation ("should"). However, it has a second, very common use: reporting rumors, myths, or unverified claims.

When used to report hearsay, **sollen** translates to "is said to," "is supposed to," or "people say that."

### Using "sollen" for Hearsay

Grammatically, this subjective use of **sollen** works exactly like any other modal verb. The conjugated form of **sollen** takes the second position in the sentence, and the main action verb gets pushed to the very end in its infinitive form.

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Just like in standard statements, the subject can swap places with other information (like time or location) as long as the conjugated **sollen** stays firmly in position two:

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### Subordinate Clauses

When you use **sollen** to report a rumor inside a subordinate clause (such as one starting with **dass**), standard subordinate word order rules apply. The conjugated verb moves all the way to the end of the clause, landing immediately after the infinitive verb.

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### Expressing "Supposedly" with "angeblich"

Another common way to report unverified information is with the adverb **angeblich** (supposedly or allegedly).

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When using **angeblich**, you do not need a modal verb. You simply use standard sentence structure and place the adverb inside the clause to cast doubt on the claim:

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Reporting hearsay (sollen)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
the legend	die Legende
This old legend is said to be true.	Diese alte Legende soll wahr sein.
The legend is said to come from Spain.	Die Legende soll aus Spanien stammen.
to exist	existieren
The village is said to no longer exist today.	Das Dorf soll heute nicht mehr existieren.
the monster	das Monster
The monster is said to live in the dark lake.	Das Monster soll im dunklen See leben.
the ghost (spectre, spook)	das Gespenst
to haunt	spuken
A ghost is said to haunt the castle at night.	Ein Gespenst soll nachts im Schloss spuken.
This house is said to really be haunted.	Es soll in diesem Haus wirklich spuken.
the UFO	das Ufo
The UFO is said to fly over the city.	Das Ufo soll über der Stadt fliegen.
the alien	der Außerirdische
It is unbelievable that the alien is said to live here.	Es ist unglaublich, dass der Außerirdische hier leben soll.
An alien is said to pilot the spaceship.	Ein Außerirdischer soll das Raumschiff steuern.
to abduct	entführen
The alien is said to abduct people at night.	Der Außerirdische soll nachts Menschen entführen.
supposedly	angeblich
The monster supposedly does not exist.	Das Monster existiert angeblich nicht.
The UFO supposedly abducts people from the village.	Das Ufo entführt angeblich Leute aus dem Dorf.
The sad ghost is said to cry in the forest.	Das traurige Gespenst soll im Wald weinen.
to land	landen
The UFO is said to land in the forest.	Das Ufo soll im Wald landen.
The spaceship is said to land at night.	Das Raumschiff soll nachts landen.
the reputation	der Ruf
The company has a good reputation.	Die Firma hat einen guten Ruf.
His reputation is said not to be good.	Sein Ruf soll nicht gut sein.
to report (give an account)	berichten
The newspaper reports on the accident.	Die Zeitung berichtet über den Unfall.
He told us about his trip.	Er hat uns von seiner Reise berichtet.

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