GrammarC1· Sprache im Wandel

Modalitätsverben

Modality verbs

Kartoffel · your teacher

Hi! Let's look at this one together — step by step, no rush.

From what you know

Anscheinend ist der Dialekt in Gefahr.Der Dialekt scheint in Gefahr zu sein.

6 parts · about 4 min

1What & when

In one line

scheinen (seem), pflegen (usually), drohen (be at risk) work like but need zu:

Before

Der Wiener Dialekt stirbt offenbar aus.

Watch the sentence change …

scheinen comments: it seems. At the end, zu goes inside the : auszusterben.

„Der Wiener Dialekt scheint auszusterben.“ — The Viennese dialect seems to be dying out.

Kartoffel

First, what is it?

Some verbs work like . They combine with an and show how the speaker sees things, but they need zu. These are the Modalitätsverben (modality verbs):

Kartoffel

And when do you need it? More often than you'd think:

Sprache im WandelYou use them to comment carefully, to describe habits and to warn of risks, in writing and in discussion:

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