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From Brand in jüdischem Altenheim : Anschlag in München nach 56 Jahren offenbar aufgeklärt, tagesschau.de, 20 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
The perpetrator could not be identified for many years.
Word for word: The perpetrator could many years long not be determined.
Said e.g. in a news report or crime story: for years nobody managed to find out who the offender was.
A passive construction with a modal verb: 'konnte ... ermittelt werden' puts a preterite modal ('konnte') together with the passive infinitive 'ermittelt werden'. The subject 'der Täter' is nominative but is the patient of the action, since the passive omits an agent. 'Viele Jahre lang' is an accusative time expression telling how long the situation lasted.
Rules at work(5)
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ermittelt werden
The process is expressed from the perspective of the person affected, with no agent named; 'werden' plus the past participle forms the passive.
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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konnte ... ermittelt werden
The modal 'konnte' takes the passive infinitive 'ermittelt werden' at the end of the clause instead of a plain infinitive.
The six modals können, müssen, dürfen, sollen, wollen and mögen say something about the main verb rather than naming an action. The modal is the finite verb in second position and the main verb goes to the end of the clause as an infinitive.
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konnte
Modals are normally put in the preterite rather than the perfect, even when referring to a completed state of affairs.
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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Der Täter konnte
The finite verb 'konnte' stands in second position after the subject phrase, as required in a main clause.
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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ermittelt
'Ermitteln' begins with the unstressed prefix 'er-', so its participle has no 'ge-'.
The prefixes be, emp, ent, er, ge, miss, ver and zer never separate and are never stressed. A verb carrying one also forms its past participle without ge, so verstehen gives verstanden.
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Words(9)
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- der Täter
perpetrator, offender
nounB1pl. Tätergen. Tätersstrong declension
- können
can, be able to, may, might (as könnte)
verbA1können, konnte, hat gekonntmit habenmodal
könnte is the Konjunktiv II and softens a claim into a possibility.
- viel
many, much
adjectiveA2
'viel' before plural countable nouns means 'many'; its comparative is the irregular 'mehr'.
- das Jahr
year
nounA1pl. Jahregen. Jahresstrong declension
- lang
for (a duration), long
adverbA2temporal
Follows a time phrase: 'viele Jahre lang' = 'for many years'.
- nicht
not
adverbA1negation
Negates single words or phrases directly before them; sentence negation places it later.
- ermitteln
to determine, to investigate, to identify
verbB2ermitteln, ermittelte, hat ermitteltmit habenweakgoverns accusative
Common in police/legal language; often used passively as here.
- werden
become, will (future auxiliary)
verbA2werden, wurde, ist gewordenmit habenirregular
Also the passive auxiliary; do not confuse with bekommen (= receive).