Breakdown of Der Widerspruch lässt sich besser verstehen, wenn die Sprache verständlich ist.
sein
to be
gut
good / well
verstehen
to understand
lassen
to let, to leave (something)
sich
oneself / himself / herself / themselves (reflexive pronoun)
wenn
if / when (conditional, not a question word)
die Sprache
the language
der Widerspruch
the appeal (administrative)
verständlich
comprehensible
Questions & Answers about Der Widerspruch lässt sich besser verstehen, wenn die Sprache verständlich ist.
The current lesson is about clause transformation. What prepositional phrase was verbalized to create the subordinate clause wenn die Sprache verständlich ist?
This conditional clause is the verbalized form of a prepositional phrase using bei. If we reverse the process and turn it back into a noun phrase (Nominalisierung), we use the dative case: Bei verständlicher Sprache lässt sich der Widerspruch besser verstehen.
Why does the German sentence use lässt sich instead of the passive voice to mean 'can be understood'?
The construction sich lassen plus an infinitive (like lässt sich verstehen) is a classic B2-level alternative to the passive voice. It expresses possibility, meaning exactly the same as kann verstanden werden, but it sounds much more natural and is heavily preferred in everyday written and spoken German.
Doesn't Widerspruch usually mean contradiction? Why is it translated as appeal here?
Yes, in everyday conversation Widerspruch usually means contradiction. However, in administrative and legal contexts, it means a formal objection or appeal, such as challenging a parking ticket or an official decision. The sentence's focus on needing comprehensible language points directly to this bureaucratic context.
How is the adjective verständlich formed from the verb verstehen?
You can often create adjectives that express capability or possibility by adding the suffix -lich or -bar to a verb stem. Here, the verb verstehen (to understand) transforms into verständlich (understandable or comprehensible), which is a very common word formation pattern to recognize at this level.
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