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Opening sentence of Vorschlag der AWO : Mit einem "Erwerbsbooster" gegen die Armut, tagesschau.de, 19 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
In the debate about a reform of the welfare state, the Workers' Welfare Association has presented its own proposals.
Word for word: In the discussion around a reform of the welfare state has the workers'-welfare own proposals presented.
The sentence reports that the Arbeiterwohlfahrt (a major German welfare organisation) has put forward its own suggestions within the ongoing public debate about reforming the German welfare system; typical of news or political reporting.
A main clause in the perfect tense with verb-second word order: the prepositional phrase 'In der Diskussion...' occupies the first position, so the auxiliary 'hat' comes second and the past participle 'präsentiert' closes the clause. 'In' takes the dative here (static location in an abstract discussion), 'um' takes the accusative, and 'des Sozialstaats' is a genitive attribute modifying 'Reform'. The subject is 'die Arbeiterwohlfahrt', feminine singular.
Rules at work(8)
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In der Diskussion
'in' takes dative because it expresses location within an abstract discussion rather than movement.
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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des Sozialstaats
The genitive marks the noun depending on 'Reform' ('a reform of the welfare state').
The genitive shows possession and follows a small set of prepositions. Masculine and neuter nouns add s or es. In speech it is often replaced by von plus the dative, but it is alive in writing and in fixed expressions.
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hat ... präsentiert
Transitive 'präsentieren' forms its perfect with the auxiliary 'haben'.
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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In der Diskussion ... hat die Arbeiterwohlfahrt ... präsentiert
The fronted adverbial occupies position one, forcing the finite verb into second position while the participle goes to the end.
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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um eine Reform
'um' is one of the fixed accusative prepositions, so 'eine Reform' stands in the accusative.
Durch, für, gegen, ohne and um always take the accusative, whatever they mean and whatever follows them.
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präsentiert
Weak verbs form the participle with ge- plus stem plus -t.
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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eigene Vorschläge
With no determiner before it, the adjective carries the strong ending showing nominative/accusative plural.
With no article in front of it the adjective has to carry the case marking itself, so it takes the endings the definite article would have had, with the exception of the masculine and neuter genitive singular.
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Sozialstaats, Arbeiterwohlfahrt
Both nouns are compounds whose gender comes from the final element.
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)
- in
in, into
prepositionA1governs accusative or dative
Dative for location, accusative for direction.
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- die Diskussion
discussion
nounB1pl. Diskussionengen. Diskussionweak declension
- um
around, by (an amount), at (a time)
prepositionA1governs accusative
'um 26 Prozent' = 'by 26 percent'; essential pattern for describing differences.
- ein
a, an, one
determinerA1indefinite
The form einer here is dative feminine singular, not the pronoun meaning 'one'.
- die Reform
reform
nounB1pl. Reformengen. Reformmixed declension
- der Sozialstaat
welfare state
nounC1pl. Sozialstaatengen. Sozialstaatesstrong declension
- haben
to have
verbA1haben, hatte, hat gehabtmit habenirregular
As an auxiliary it forms the perfect tenses of most verbs.
- die Arbeiterwohlfahrt
Workers' Welfare Association (German welfare organisation, AWO)
nounC1pl. Arbeiterwohlfahrtengen. Arbeiterwohlfahrt
Proper name of a major German charity, often abbreviated AWO.
- eigen
own
adjectiveA2eigner, am eignesten
Usually used with a possessive: die eigene Wichtigkeit = 'its own importance'.
- der Vorschlag
proposal, suggestion
nounB1pl. Vorschlägegen. Vorschlagsstrong declension
- präsentieren
to present, to put forward
verbB2präsentieren, präsentierte, hat präsentiertmit habenweakgoverns accusative