Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden.

This document should still be read today.

Breakdown of Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden.

• heute: today
• noch: still
• sollen: should
• dieses: this
• das Dokument: the document
• gelesen werden: to be read

Questions & Answers about Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden.

What exactly does soll mean here, and why is it used instead of something like muss or wird?

Soll is a modal verb that usually expresses:

• an obligation or task: is supposed to / is to / should
• often based on someone else’s instructions, rules, or plans

In Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden the idea is:

• This document is supposed to be read (by someone) today (before the day is over).

Comparisons:

• muss → much stronger, like must / has to

  • Dieses Dokument muss heute noch gelesen werden.
    = There is a strict necessity; not doing it is really not an option.

• wird (in passive) → simple factual statement, no idea of obligation:

  • Dieses Dokument wird heute noch gelesen.
    = This document will (in fact) be read today. (A plan or prediction, not an instruction.)

So soll adds the nuance of a requirement or instruction, but softer than muss and not as purely factual as wird.

What tense and grammatical construction is this?

Formally, this is:

• Present tense
• Passive voice (Vorgangspassiv)
• With a modal verb (sollen)

Structure:

• Dieses Dokument – subject (nominative)
• soll – finite verb (3rd person singular, present)
• … gelesen werden – passive infinitive with werden and past participle gelesen

So grammatically it is present tense modal passive.
Semantically, like in English, a present modal often refers to the near future:

• English: This document should be read today.
• German: Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden.

Why is Dieses Dokument in the nominative case and not accusative?

Because the sentence is in the passive voice.

In an active sentence:

• Jemand soll dieses Dokument heute noch lesen.
  
  • jemand – subject (nominative)
  • dieses Dokument – direct object (accusative)

In the passive version, the direct object of the active sentence becomes the subject:

• Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden.
  
  • Dieses Dokument is now the subject, so it goes into the nominative.

That is why you have dieses Dokument (nominative neuter) instead of dieses Dokument as accusative – they look the same in neuter, but the function is now subject, not object.

How would the active version of this sentence look, and what is the difference in meaning?

A straightforward active version is:

• Jemand soll dieses Dokument heute noch lesen.
  = Someone is supposed to read this document today (before the day ends).

Difference:

• Passive: Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden.

  • Focuses on the document and the action done to it.
  • The doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context.

• Active: Jemand soll dieses Dokument heute noch lesen.

  • Focuses on the person (even if vaguely: someone).
  • Explicitly mentions a doer (subject).

German uses the passive a lot in instructions, official language, and when the doer doesn’t matter.

Why is it gelesen werden at the end, and not werden gelesen or lesen werden?

With modals in German, all non-finite verb forms go to the end of the clause, and the modal is the finite verb in second position.

Rules here:

• Passive without modal (present):

  • Das Dokument wird gelesen.
    
    • wird is finite, gelesen at the end.

• Passive with modal:

  • Das Dokument soll gelesen werden.
    
    • Now soll is the finite verb.
    • The passive is expressed by the infinitive werden plus the participle gelesen.
    • Both infinitive forms (gelesen, werden) move to the end in a double infinitive cluster.

So you get:

• … soll gelesen werden. (correct)
  Not:

• … soll werden gelesen. (wrong word order)
• … soll lesen werden. (wrong form: lesen instead of gelesen)

What does noch mean here? Does it mean still?

In this sentence, noch has a time-limit meaning, not the still meaning.

• heute = today
• heute noch ≈ today still / before today is over / sometime today (but it hasn’t happened yet)

So:

• Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden.
  ≈ This document is supposed to be read *(at some point) today, before the day ends.*

If you left noch out:

• Dieses Dokument soll heute gelesen werden.
  = It should be read today (neutral statement).

With noch, there is a nuance: it has not happened yet, but it is expected to happen before the day is over.

Can I change the order of heute and noch? For example, say noch heute instead of heute noch?

Both heute noch and noch heute are possible, but they have slightly different typical uses and feel:

1. heute noch (very common here)

   • Neutral, everyday phrasing for “sometime still today / before today is over”.
   • Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden.

2. noch heute

   • Slightly more formal or emphatic; often used to stress today already / as early as today.
   • Dieses Dokument soll noch heute gelesen werden.
     = It should already be done today, not later.

In many contexts they are interchangeable, especially in spoken language, but heute noch is the more typical, neutral choice in this kind of sentence.

Is there a difference in meaning between Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden and Dieses Dokument muss heute noch gelesen werden?

Yes, it is a difference in strength of obligation:

• soll → should / is supposed to

  • Obligation, but somewhat softer; it can sound like an instruction, guideline, or expectation.

• muss → must / has to

  • Strong, non‑negotiable necessity.

Nuance:

• Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden.
  = It is expected / required that this document be read today.

• Dieses Dokument muss heute noch gelesen werden.
  = It absolutely has to be read today; strong requirement or urgent necessity.

In official instructions, soll can sometimes have a quasi‑binding character, but in everyday feeling, muss is stronger.

Is werden here a future tense marker, like English will?

No. In this sentence werden is not a future auxiliary; it is part of the passive construction.

• Future tense with werden (no passive):

  • Das Dokument wird gelesen werden.
    = The document will be read. (future passive)

• Passive without future:

  • Das Dokument wird gelesen.
    = The document is being read / is read. (present passive)

In your sentence:

• Dieses Dokument soll heute noch gelesen werden.

werden is in the infinitive, paired with gelesen as part of the passive.
The finite verb (that carries tense) is soll, which is present tense.

So grammatically it is present tense, not future tense, even though it refers to something that will happen later today.

Can I just leave out noch and say Dieses Dokument soll heute gelesen werden? How does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

• Dieses Dokument soll heute gelesen werden.

The difference:

• heute alone:

  • It should be read today (no special emphasis on “it hasn’t been read yet”).
  • Neutral scheduling: sometime during today.

• heute noch:

  • Implies more clearly: it hasn’t been read yet but must still happen before the day ends.
  • Mild sense of urgency or catching up.

So heute noch is often used if the day is already in progress and you want to underline: “We still have to get this done today.”