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Third sentence of Naturschutzgebiet Hohes Venn: Löscharbeiten in Belgien - Brandgeruch in Köln, tagesschau.de, 18 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
In the Belgian nature reserve Hohes Venn, not far from the border with Germany, the fight against the forest fires continues.
Word for word: In-the Belgian nature-protection-area High Venn not-far-of the border to Germany lasts the fight against the forest-fires on.
Used in news reporting to say that efforts to extinguish or contain wildfires in the Hautes Fagnes nature reserve near the German border are still ongoing.
A declarative sentence in the present tense. 'Im' contracts 'in dem' and takes the dative for location. The separable verb 'andauern' stands in second position with its prefix 'an' sent to the end of the clause. 'Unweit' governs the genitive ('der Grenze'), while 'gegen' governs the accusative ('die Waldbrände').
Rules at work(9)
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dauert
The finite verb occupies the second position of the main clause, after the fronted prepositional 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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dauert ... an
'andauern' is separable, so the prefix 'an' moves to the end of the clause.
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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Im belgischen Naturschutzgebiet
'in' expresses location here and therefore takes the dative.
The dative marks the indirect object, usually the person something is given, said or shown to. A number of common verbs take a dative object where English would use a direct one, and several prepositions always take it.
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unweit der Grenze
'unweit' is one of the prepositions that always governs the genitive.
Während, wegen, trotz, statt and a longer list in formal writing take the genitive, though the dative is widely heard with them in speech.
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der Kampf ... dauert
The third-person singular subject 'der Kampf' requires the '-t' ending on 'dauert'.
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.
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dauert
The present tense is used to describe a situation that is still 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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Im belgischen Naturschutzgebiet
'in' takes the dative when it describes where something happens rather than movement into.
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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Naturschutzgebiet, Waldbrände
Both nouns are compounds formed from simpler nouns written as one word.
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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belgischen
After the definite article contained in 'im', the adjective takes the weak ending '-en'.
After a definite article the adjective ending is e in the five nominative and accusative singular slots and en everywhere else, because the article has already shown the case and gender.
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Words(15)
- in
in, into
prepositionA1governs accusative or dative
Dative for location, accusative for direction.
- belgisch
Belgian
adjectiveA2
- das Naturschutzgebiet
nature reserve
nounB1pl. Naturschutzgebietegen. Naturschutzgebietsstrong declension
- hoch
high, tall
adjectiveA1höher, am höchsten
Irregular comparative höher.
- das Venn
fen, raised bog
nounC1pl. Venntegen. Vennsstrong declension
- unweit
not far from, a short distance from
prepositionC1governs genitive
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- die Grenze
border, boundary
nounA2pl. Grenzengen. Grenzemixed declension
Fixed pattern: die Grenze zu + dative = border with.
- zu
to, at, too
prepositionA1governs dative
With verbs of movement it takes dative even though motion is involved.
- das Deutschland
Germany
nounA1pl. —gen. Deutschlandsinvariable declension
- andauern
to continue, to go on
verbB2andauern, dauerte an, hat angedauertmit habenseparableweak
- der Kampf
fight, struggle, battle
nounB1pl. Kämpfegen. Kampfesstrong declension
- gegen
against, towards
prepositionA2governs accusative
With clock times it means 'approximately at'.
- die
the
determinerA1definite
- der Waldbrand
forest fire, wildfire
nounB1pl. Waldbrändegen. Waldbrandesstrong declension