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Third sentence of SPD-Vorstoß zu Klimaanpassung: Rückt eine Grundgesetzänderung näher?, tagesschau.de, 17 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
It's about money, areas of responsibility, and the question: How much financial responsibility should the federal government take on?
Word for word: It goes about money, responsibilities and the question: How much financial responsibility shall the federation take over?
Used to frame a discussion, e.g. in news or debate contexts, announcing what a topic concerns: money, who is responsible for what, and how much financial burden the federal state should bear.
The sentence opens with the dummy subject 'es' in a present-tense construction 'es geht um + accusative', which introduces a topic. A colon introduces an embedded w-question with a modal verb in verb-second position within the quoted question.
Rules at work(6)
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soll der Bund übernehmen
The embedded yes/w-question places the finite modal verb in second position after the fronted interrogative 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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soll ... übernehmen
The modal 'soll' expresses obligation or expectation and pushes the lexical infinitive to the end of the clause.
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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Es geht um
The idiom 'es geht um' fixes the preposition 'um' with accusative, introducing the topic.
Many verbs are tied to one preposition and one case, and the pairing rarely matches the English one. Warten auf takes the accusative, denken an takes the accusative, teilnehmen an takes the dative.
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Wie viel finanzielle Verantwortung soll...
The question begins with the interrogative 'wie viel' asking about quantity.
Wer, was, wo, wann, wie, warum and the rest fill the first position, and the finite verb follows in second place as in any statement. Wer and was decline for case, giving wen and wem.
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der Bund
The subject of the question 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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um Geld, Zuständigkeiten und die Frage
The preposition 'um' governs the accusative, so all three coordinated objects are accusative.
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(15)
- es
it
pronounA1personal
Often a dummy subject, as in es geht darum.
- gehen
to go, to walk
verbA1gehen, ging, ist gegangenmit seinstrong
With a bare infinitive it means to go somewhere to do that thing: 'gehen joggen' = go jogging.
- um
around, by (an amount), at (a time)
prepositionA1governs accusative
'um 26 Prozent' = 'by 26 percent'; essential pattern for describing differences.
- das Geld
money
nounA1pl. Geldergen. Geldesstrong declension
- die Zuständigkeit
area of responsibility, competence
nounC1pl. Zuständigkeitengen. Zuständigkeitweak declension
- und
and
conjunctionA1coordinating
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- die Frage
question
nounA1pl. Fragengen. Frageweak declension
- wie
how
adverbA1modal
Here a free relative meaning 'as', not a question word.
- viel
many, much
adjectiveA2
'viel' before plural countable nouns means 'many'; its comparative is the irregular 'mehr'.
- finanziell
financial
adjectiveB1finanzieller, am finanziellsten
- die Verantwortung
responsibility, accountability
nounB1pl. Verantwortungengen. Verantwortungstrong declension
Fixed collocation: Verantwortung tragen = to bear responsibility.
- sollen
should, to be supposed to
verbA2sollen, sollte, gesolltmit habenmodal
In reporting, 'soll' signals that something is planned or claimed rather than fact.
- der Bund
federation, the federal state (Germany)
nounB1pl. Bündegen. Bundesmixed declension
In German politics 'der Bund' means the federal level of government.
- übernehmen
to take on, to assume, to take over
verbB2übernehmen, übernahm, hat übernommenmit habenmixed
Inseparable prefix 'über-': never split off, and the participle has no ge-.