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Second sentence of Grundgesetzänderung notwendig: Umweltverbände unterstützen Hitzeschutz-Pläne der SPD, tagesschau.de, 17 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
The SPD ministries have presented a plan, but a change to the Basic Law is needed for it.
Word for word: The SPD ministries have a plan presented, for which however a basic-law-change necessary is.
A statement reporting that the SPD-run ministries submitted a plan whose implementation requires an amendment of the German constitution (Grundgesetz); typical of news or political commentary.
Main clause with the finite auxiliary 'haben' in second position and the separable past participle 'vorgelegt' at the end, forming the perfect tense. A relative clause introduced by the prepositional phrase 'für den' (für + accusative relative pronoun referring back to 'Plan') follows; within it the finite verb 'ist' stands last, as required in subordinate clauses. 'aber' functions here as a sentence adverb meaning 'however'.
Rules at work(9)
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Die SPD-Ministerien haben
In the declarative main clause the finite auxiliary occupies the second position after the subject phrase.
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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haben ... vorgelegt
Transitive vorlegen forms the perfect with haben plus the past participle in final position.
The perfect is the ordinary spoken past. It is built from the present of haben in second position and the past participle at the end of the clause. Most verbs take haben, including every verb with a direct object and every reflexive verb.
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für den aber eine Grundgesetzänderung nötig ist
The prepositional phrase für den opens a relative clause modifying Plan, with the relative pronoun pulled along by the preposition.
A relative pronoun takes its gender and number from the noun it refers back to, and its case from the job it does inside the relative clause. The clause is verb-final and always separated by a comma.
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nötig ist
Inside the relative clause the finite verb ist must stand at the very end.
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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vorgelegt
Weak verb with separable prefix: ge- is inserted between the prefix vor- and the stem, giving vorgelegt.
A weak verb forms its participle as ge plus stem plus t, a strong verb as ge plus a often changed stem plus en. Verbs with an inseparable prefix and verbs ending in ieren take no ge at all.
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vorgelegt
The prefix vor- of vorlegen attaches to the participle rather than being separated, since this is a non-finite form.
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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für den
für always governs the accusative, so the relative pronoun appears as den.
Durch, für, gegen, ohne and um always take the accusative, whatever they mean and whatever follows them.
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einen Plan ... eine Grundgesetzänderung
Article forms reflect the masculine Plan and the feminine Grundgesetzänderung.
Every German noun is masculine, feminine or neuter. The gender is a property of the word rather than of the thing it names, and it decides the form of every article, adjective and pronoun that refers to it, so it has to be learned with the noun.
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SPD-Ministerien, Grundgesetzänderung
Both nouns are compounds whose gender and plural follow the head noun (Ministerium, Änderung).
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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Words(12)
- die
the
determinerA1definite
- das SPD-Ministerium
ministry headed by an SPD politician
nounC1pl. SPD-Ministeriengen. SPD-Ministeriumsstrong declension
- haben
to have
verbA1haben, hatte, hat gehabtmit habenirregular
As an auxiliary it forms the perfect tenses of most verbs.
- ein
a, an, one
determinerA1indefinite
The form einer here is dative feminine singular, not the pronoun meaning 'one'.
- der Plan
plan, scheme
nounA2pl. Plänegen. Plansmixed declension
- vorlegen
to present, to submit
verbB2vorlegen, legte vor, hat vorgelegtmit habenseparableweakgoverns dative
Separable prefix vor- splits off in main clauses: 'Sie legen einen Plan vor'.
- für
for
prepositionA1governs accusative
Here für Dienstag names the day the forecast applies to, not a beneficiary.
- der
who, which
pronounA1relative
- aber
but, however
adverbA2modal
Positioned after the fronted phrase it contrasts with, 'aber' means 'however'; at the start of a clause it is the coordinating conjunction 'but'.
- die Grundgesetzänderung
amendment to the Basic Law, constitutional amendment
nounC1pl. Grundgesetzänderungengen. Grundgesetzänderungweak declension
- nötig
necessary, needed
adjectiveB1nötiger, am nötigsten
- sein
to be
verbA1sein, war, ist gewesenmit seinirregular
Copula here linking subject to predicate noun.