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Opening sentence of Zahlen zum ersten Halbjahr: Mehr freiwillige Ausreisen abgelehnter Asylbewerber, tagesschau.de, 17 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
Significantly more migrants and rejected asylum seekers are apparently leaving Germany voluntarily.
Word for word: Decidedly more migrants and rejected asylum-applicants leave apparently voluntarily Germany.
The sentence reports that noticeably larger numbers of migrants and people whose asylum applications were turned down are leaving Germany of their own accord; 'offenbar' signals that this is the speaker's impression rather than confirmed fact, typical of news reporting.
A simple main clause in the present tense with verb-second word order: the fronted adverbial phrase 'Deutlich mehr' occupies position one, so the finite verb 'verlassen' comes second and the subject 'Migranten und abgelehnte Asylbewerber' follows it. 'Abgelehnte' is a past participle used attributively before 'Asylbewerber', taking a mixed adjective ending because there is no article. 'Deutschland' is a proper name without an article functioning as a direct object.
Rules at work(7)
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Deutlich mehr ... verlassen
The fronted adverbial fills first position, pushing the finite verb to second place in this declarative 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.
Does this rule belong on this sentence? -
abgelehnte Asylbewerber
The past participle of 'ablehnen' modifies the noun directly, meaning 'whose application has been rejected'.
Both participles can stand before a noun and take ordinary adjective endings. The past participle is passive in sense, the present participle active: das gekochte Ei against das kochende Wasser.
Does this rule belong on this sentence? -
Migranten und abgelehnte Asylbewerber verlassen
The finite verb takes the third-person plural form to agree with the coordinated plural subject.
The finite verb takes an ending that matches its subject in person and number. The endings for regular verbs in the present are e, st, t, en, t, en.
Does this rule belong on this sentence? -
verlassen
German uses the present tense here where English would often prefer the progressive, since the process is ongoing.
The present describes what is happening now, what happens habitually, and very often what is going to happen, since German uses the present with a time expression where English would use a future.
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abgelehnte
With no article before the plural noun, the attributive participle takes the strong-looking plural ending -e characteristic of zero-determiner contexts.
After ein, kein and a possessive, the adjective takes strong endings exactly where the article shows nothing, which is the masculine nominative and the neuter nominative and accusative, and weak endings everywhere else.
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Migranten und abgelehnte Asylbewerber
The coordinated subject stands in the nominative.
The nominative marks the subject of the clause: whoever or whatever is doing the verb. It is also the case used after the verbs sein, werden and bleiben, so both sides of Das ist mein Bruder stand in the nominative.
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Deutschland
'Verlassen' governs the accusative, and the country name appears without an article.
The accusative marks the direct object: the thing the action is done to. Only the masculine changes visibly, from der to den and from ein to einen, which is why the masculine is where accusative errors show.
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Words(9)
- deutlich
clearly, distinctly, significantly
adverbB1modal
- viel
much, more (comparative 'mehr')
adverbA1degree
'mehr' is the fixed comparative form of both 'viel' and 'gut'; it never takes '-er'.
- der Migrant
migrant
nounB1pl. Migrantengen. Migrantenweak declension
- und
and
conjunctionA1coordinating
- der Asylbewerber
asylum seeker
nounC1pl. Asylbewerbergen. Asylbewerbersstrong declension
- verlassen
to leave, to depart from, to abandon
verbB1verlassen, verließ, hat verlassenmit habenmixedgoverns accusative
- offenbar
apparently, evidently
adverbB2modal
Signals reported or inferred information the speaker does not vouch for; similar to English 'apparently'.
- freiwillig
voluntarily, of one's own accord
adverbB1modal
- das Deutschland
Germany
nounA1pl. —gen. Deutschlandsinvariable declension