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From Ausgaben deutlich gestiegen: Sozialhilfe kostet 21,5 Milliarden Euro , tagesschau.de, 21 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
€11.8 billion was spent on this, 2.9 percent more than in 2024. However, their share of total social assistance expenditure fell for the third year in a row and stood at 54.9 percent.
Word for word: For-that were 11.8 billion euros spent, 2.9 percent more than 2024. Their share of the entire social-assistance-expenditures sank however in the third year in sequence and lay at 54.9 percent.
A report-style statement about social spending: €11.8 billion was spent, up 2.9% on 2024, but the share of total social assistance spending declined for the third consecutive year, standing at 54.9%.
Both sentences are statements with the finite verb in second position. The first uses the preterite passive (wurden ausgegeben). The second coordinates two preterite main clauses with und and contains dative prepositional phrases (an + dative, bei + dative, im dritten Jahr).
Rules at work(9)
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Dafür wurden ... ausgegeben
The fronted adverb Dafür occupies position one, pushing the finite verb wurden into second position.
In a German main clause the finite verb is always the second element. The first element can be the subject, but it can just as easily be a time expression, an object or a whole subordinate clause; whatever it is, it counts as one element and the verb follows it. This is why putting something other than the subject first pushes the subject after the verb.
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wurden, sank, lag
Written narrative/report style favours the simple preterite over the perfect.
The simple past is the written narrative past. In speech it survives mainly in sein, haben and the modals, where hatte and war are far commoner than the perfect forms.
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wurden ausgegeben
The agent is unimportant, so the werden-passive in the preterite is used.
Werden plus a past participle. The agent, when it is mentioned at all, follows von for a person and durch for a means. In the perfect passive the participle of werden appears as worden rather than geworden.
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an den gesamten Sozialhilfeausgaben, im dritten Jahr
an and in take the dative here because the meaning is static, not directional.
An, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor and zwischen take the accusative when the phrase answers where to, and the dative when it answers where. The distinction is movement across a boundary against position, not motion against stillness.
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mehr als 2024
mehr is the comparative of viel and als introduces the comparison standard.
German adds er and st rather than using more and most, however long the adjective. Many one syllable adjectives take an umlaut, and the superlative before a noun takes an ordinary adjective ending while a standalone one uses am plus sten.
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und ... lag
und links two main clauses without changing the verb-second order.
Und, aber, oder, denn and sondern join two main clauses and do not count as an element, so the word order after them is unchanged and the verb stays in second position.
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Ihr Anteil
The possessive determiner agrees with the following noun Anteil in gender, case and number.
Mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer and Ihr take their stem from the owner and their ending from the thing owned, which is why seine Mutter and ihr Vater are the way they are.
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Sozialhilfeausgaben
A compound formed from Sozialhilfe + Ausgaben, written as one word.
German builds long nouns by joining shorter ones. The last part carries the gender and the plural, and everything before it modifies what follows, so a compound is read from the right.
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bei 54,9 Prozent
bei always governs the dative.
Aus, außer, bei, mit, nach, seit, von and zu always take the dative. Several of them contract with the article: von dem becomes vom, zu der becomes zur.
Does this rule belong on this sentence?
Words(23)
- dafür
for that, for it
adverbB1causal
Da-compound standing in for 'for this purpose'; English uses plain 'for it/that'.
- werden
become, will (future auxiliary)
verbA2werden, wurde, ist gewordenmit habenirregular
Also the passive auxiliary; do not confuse with bekommen (= receive).
- die Milliarde
billion
nounB1pl. Milliardengen. Milliardemixed declension
German 'Milliarde' = English billion (10^9), not milliard confusion.
- der Euro
euro
nounA1pl. Eurogen. Eurostrong declension
The plural is identical to the singular: zehn Euro.
- ausgeben
to spend (money)
verbB1ausgeben, gab aus, hat ausgegebenmit habenseparablemixedgoverns accusative
Separable verb; do not confuse with sich ausgeben or the noun die Ausgabe.
- das Prozent
percent
nounA2pl. Prozentgen. Prozentsstrong declension
- mehr
more
adverbA1degree
Comparative of viel; before nouns it works like a quantifier with no article.
- als
as, than, when (past)
conjunctionA2correlative
here 'als Land' means 'as a country'; also used for comparisons and after 'als' in past-time clauses
- ihr
their, her
determinerA2possessive
Refers to feminine or plural possessors; here 'its' (the commission's).
- der Anteil
share, proportion
nounB1pl. Anteilegen. Anteilsstrong declension
- an
on, at, by
prepositionA1governs accusative or dative
Dative for points in time and location (am Montag), accusative for direction.
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- gesamt
whole, entire
adjectiveB1
- die Sozialhilfeausgaben
social assistance expenditure
nounC1pl. Sozialhilfeausgabengen. Sozialhilfeausgabemixed declension
- sinken
to sink, to fall, to decline
verbB1sinken, sank, ist gesunkenmit seinstrong
- allerdings
however, though, admittedly
adverbB1modal
Softens or contrasts a previous statement; usually in midfield.
- in
in, into
prepositionA1governs accusative or dative
Dative for location, accusative for direction.
- dritt
third
adjectiveA2
- das Jahr
year
nounA1pl. Jahregen. Jahresstrong declension
- die Folge
consequence, result, episode (of a series)
nounB1pl. Folgengen. Folgemixed declension
- und
and
conjunctionA1coordinating
- liegen
to lie, to be situated, (of figures) to stand at
verbA1liegen, lag, ist gelegenmit seinstrong
With figures, 'liegen bei/um/über' means 'stand at/by above' — common in statistics and news.
- bei
at, near, with
prepositionA2governs dative
'bei 42 Prozent' = 'at 42 percent', standard in poll reporting.