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From Mehr als 186.000 Soldaten: Bundeswehr erreicht Personalziel für dieses Jahr, tagesschau.de, 17 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
That is said to be as many as there haven't been in 13 years.
Word for word: That were so many as since 13 years no more.
Typical news/journalistic style reporting that some number is the highest in thirteen years; the speaker distances themselves from the claim.
'seien' is the subjunctive one (Konjunktiv I) third-person plural of 'sein', used to report a claim neutrally without endorsing it. The sentence is a comparison of equality built with 'so ... wie'. 'seit' governs the dative, hence '13 Jahren' in the dative plural.
Rules at work(4)
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seien
'seien' is Konjunktiv I of 'sein', the standard marker of reported speech in journalism.
Reported speech in journalism and formal writing. It is built from the infinitive stem, and where its form would be identical to the ordinary present, Konjunktiv II is used instead to keep the reporting visible.
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Das seien
The finite verb stands in second position after the fronted subject 'Das'.
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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seit 13 Jahren
'seit' always governs the dative, so 'Jahren' appears in the dative plural.
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? -
so viele wie
'so ... wie' frames a comparison of equality: as many as.
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.
Does this rule belong on this sentence?
Words(10)
- das
that, what
pronounA1demonstrative
Before a comma, das is usually a pronoun introducing a relative clause, not the article.
- sein
to be
verbA1sein, war, ist gewesenmit seinirregular
Copula here linking subject to predicate noun.
- so
so, this
adverbA1modal
In 'so hieß es' it marks reported wording, not comparison.
- viel
many, much
adjectiveA2
'viel' before plural countable nouns means 'many'; its comparative is the irregular 'mehr'.
- wie
like, as, how
conjunctionA1subordinating
Here introducing an example, equivalent to 'such as'.
- seit
since, for
prepositionA2governs dative
With time spans German uses 'seit' + present tense where English uses perfect: 'seit 13 Jahren' = 'for 13 years'.
- 13
thirteen
numeralA1
- das Jahr
year
nounA1pl. Jahregen. Jahresstrong declension
- nicht
not
adverbA1negation
Negates single words or phrases directly before them; sentence negation places it later.
- mehr
more
adverbA1degree
Comparative of viel; before nouns it works like a quantifier with no article.