Breakdown of Die Musik konnte alle Leute mitreißen.
die Leute
the people
alle
all, everyone
die Musik
the music
können
can / to be able to
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
mitreißen
to carry along
Questions & Answers about Die Musik konnte alle Leute mitreißen.
How does mitreißen mean "to sweep along" in this context?
The verb mitreißen literally means "to pull or tear along with" (mit + reißen). In a figurative sense, like with music, a movie, or an enthusiastic speaker, it means to captivate, enthrall, or sweep a crowd away with emotion or excitement.
Why isn't the separable prefix mit separated from reißen at the end of the sentence?
Because of the modal verb konnte (was able to). Modal verbs in the second position push the main verb to the very end of the clause in its full infinitive form. Since it is in the infinitive, the separable verb mitreißen stays together as one word.
Could I use jeden instead of alle Leute to translate "everyone"?
Yes, Die Musik konnte jeden mitreißen works perfectly. The phrase alle Leute literally means "all people" and emphasizes the collective crowd, while jeden (everyone / each person) focuses slightly more on every single individual. In this context, they are interchangeable.
Since the current lesson is about nur dass, how would I add a restrictive exception to this sentence?
You would add a comma after the main clause, then start the subordinate clause with nur dass (except that / only that). Because it is a subordinating conjunction, the conjugated verb goes to the very end. For example: Die Musik konnte alle Leute mitreißen, nur dass sie zu laut war. (The music was able to sweep everyone along, except that it was too loud.)
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