Breakdown of Viele junge Kinder plaudern das Geheimnis wohl aus Ungeduld aus.
das Kind
the child
viel
much / a lot
jung
young
das Geheimnis
the secret
wohl
probably, I suppose
aus
out of (motive)
ausplaudern
to let slip
die Ungeduld
the impatience
Questions & Answers about Viele junge Kinder plaudern das Geheimnis wohl aus Ungeduld aus.
What does wohl do here, and why aren't we using the future tense to express an assumption?
The modal particle wohl expresses a strong assumption, translating to "probably" or "I presume". While you can use the Futur I to make an assumption about the present, native speakers often prefer simply using the present tense combined with wohl. It sounds much more natural and less clunky for things happening right now.
Why does the word aus appear twice in the second half of the sentence (aus Ungeduld aus)?
They serve two completely different grammatical functions! The first aus is a dative preposition meaning "out of" (out of impatience). The second aus at the very end of the sentence is the separated prefix of the verb ausplaudern (to let a secret slip or to blab). Because it is a separable verb in the present tense, its prefix gets kicked to the end.
Why does the sentence use aus Ungeduld instead of vor Ungeduld?
When expressing an emotion as a cause, aus is used for a conscious motive or reason that drives an action (like spilling a secret out of impatience). In contrast, vor is used for involuntary, physical reactions to feelings, such as shaking from cold or freezing in terror (vor Angst).
Why is the ending on the adjective junge just an -e instead of an -en?
The word viele does not act like a definite plural article (like die), which would trigger the weak -en ending on the following adjective. Instead, it behaves like a parallel adjective. When there is no definite article in the plural, adjectives take the strong ending, which for the nominative case is -e. Therefore, both words get the same ending: viele junge.
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