Breakdown of Der Rivale mag dominant sein, aber er soll zu langsam sein.
sein
to be
er
he
aber
but
langsam
slow, slowly
zu
too (e.g., too big)
sollen
should / ought to
der Rivale
the rival
mögen
may (concessive)
dominant
dominant
Questions & Answers about Der Rivale mag dominant sein, aber er soll zu langsam sein.
Wait, doesn't mag usually mean "likes"? How does it mean "may" here?
You are right that mögen usually expresses liking something. However, at the B2 level, you will often see it used subjectively to express a concession. In the structure mag ... sein, it means "may be" in the sense of admitting a point before arguing against it, just like saying "The rival may well be dominant, but..." in English.
Why is soll translated as "is said to be" instead of "should"?
This is another subjective use of a modal verb! When used subjectively, sollen expresses hearsay or a rumor. It means that others claim the rival is too slow, but the speaker is merely reporting this without guaranteeing it is true.
Could I use kann instead of mag in the first half of the sentence?
Grammatically, yes, but it changes the meaning. Saying kann dominant sein expresses ability or general possibility (meaning he is capable of being dominant). Using mag specifically sets up a rhetorical contrast, acknowledging a fact only to counter it in the next breath with aber (but).
Why is sein placed at the very end of both clauses?
This is a great refresher on the classic sentence bracket structure for modal verbs. Both clauses use a conjugated modal verb (mag and soll) in the second position, which pushes the infinitive verb they link to (sein) to the very end of their respective clauses.
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