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From Bis mindestens März 2027: Grenzkontrollen sollen erneut verlängert werden, tagesschau.de, 18 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
The CSU politician had already announced the step at the end of July, when tens of thousands of migrants were temporarily crossing the border from Morocco into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa.
Word for word: The CSU-politician had the step already end July announced, as temporarily tens-of-thousands migrants the border from Morocco into the Spanish exclave Ceuta in North Africa crossed.
A report-style sentence saying that the politician had made the announcement before or while the mass border crossings at Ceuta were happening; typical of news prose.
Main clause in the pluperfect (hatte ... angekündigt) with the separable verb ankündigen; a temporal subordinate clause introduced by als follows, with the finite verb überquerten in final position. In uses the accusative for direction (in die Exklave) and the dative for location (in Nordafrika).
Rules at work(7)
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hatte ... angekündigt
The announcement happened before the past reference point set by the als-clause, so German uses the pluperfect hatte angekündigt.
The pluperfect describes what had already happened before some other past event. It is built like the perfect but with hatte or war instead of hat or ist, and it very often appears in a clause introduced by nachdem.
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als
Als introduces a temporal subordinate clause describing a single event in the past.
Weil, dass, wenn, als, ob, obwohl, damit, nachdem, bevor and the rest introduce a subordinate clause and send its finite verb to the very end.
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als ... überquerten
After the conjunction als the finite verb überquerten moves to the end of the clause.
In a subordinate clause the finite verb stands last. Where the clause also holds a participle or an infinitive, the finite verb goes after them, so the order at the end is participle then auxiliary.
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in die spanische Exklave ... in Nordafrika
Directional in takes the accusative (in die Exklave) while static in takes the dative (in Nordafrika); both appear side by side.
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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angekündigt
Ankündigen is separable, so its participle is formed as an + ge + kündigt.
Some verbs carry a prefix that detaches in a main clause and moves to the very end: aufstehen becomes Ich stehe um sieben auf. The prefix is stressed, which is what tells a separable prefix from an inseparable one. In a subordinate clause and in the infinitive the verb stays whole.
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Migranten
Migrant is a weak noun whose plural adds -en.
A group of masculine nouns takes an n or en in every case but the nominative singular: der Student but den Studenten, dem Studenten, des Studenten. Most denote people and many end in e, ent, ist or ant.
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Ende Juli ... Zehntausende Migranten
The month name after Ende and the noun after the substantivized numeral both stand in the genitive.
The genitive shows possession and follows a small set of prepositions. Masculine and neuter nouns add s or es. In speech it is often replaced by von plus the dative, but it is alive in writing and in fixed expressions.
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Words(21)
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- der CSU-Politiker
CSU politician
nounB2pl. CSU-Politikergen. CSU-Politikersstrong declension
- haben
to have
verbA1haben, hatte, hat gehabtmit habenirregular
As an auxiliary it forms the perfect tenses of most verbs.
- der Schritt
step, measure (figurative)
nounA2pl. Schrittegen. Schrittesstrong declension
In political texts Schritt often means 'a measure or move', not a literal step.
- bereits
already
adverbB1temporal
More formal than schon.
- die Ende
end
nounA2pl. Endengen. des Endesmixed declension
- der Juli
July
nounA1pl. Julisgen. Julisinvariable declension
Month names are masculine and not usually preceded by an article in dates.
- ankündigen
to announce
verbB1ankündigen, kündigte an, hat angekündigtmit habenseparableweak
Separable prefix an-; participle is angekündigt.
- als
as, than, when (past)
conjunctionA2correlative
here 'als Land' means 'as a country'; also used for comparisons and after 'als' in past-time clauses
- zeitweise
temporarily, at times
adverbC1temporal
- Zehntausende
tens of thousands
numeralB1
- der Migrant
migrant
nounB1pl. Migrantengen. Migrantenweak declension
- die Grenze
border, boundary
nounA2pl. Grenzengen. Grenzemixed declension
Fixed pattern: die Grenze zu + dative = border with.
- von
from, of, by
prepositionA1governs dative
Used here to mark authorship, like 'by' in English credits.
- das Marokko
Morocco
nounA2pl. —gen. Marokkosinvariable declension
- in
in, into
prepositionA1governs accusative or dative
Dative for location, accusative for direction.
- spanisch
Spanish
adjectiveA1spanischer, am spanischsten
- die Exklave
exclave
nounC1pl. Exklavengen. Exklavemixed declension
- die Ceuta
Ceuta (Spanish city in North Africa)
nounC2pl. —gen. Ceutasinvariable declension
- das Nordafrika
North Africa
nounB1pl. —gen. Nordafrikasinvariable declension
- überqueren
to cross
verbB1überqueren, überquerte, hat überquertmit habenweakgoverns accusative
The prefix über- is stressed and inseparable here, so there is no ge- in the participle (hat überquert).