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From 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
According to the report, the state-promoted voluntary return of foreigners obliged to leave the country had already risen markedly by 2025.
Word for word: Already 2025 was the promoted voluntary return of obligation-to-leave foreigners the report according to distinctly risen.
The sentence reports that, according to some report, the number of subsidised voluntary departures by migrants required to leave Germany had already increased significantly by 2025. Typical of news and journalistic register.
A simple declarative main clause in the preterite. The finite verb 'war' occupies second position after the fronted time phrase 'Schon 2025'. The subject is the long noun phrase 'die geförderte freiwillige Rückkehr von ausreisepflichtigen Ausländern', whose adjectives take weak endings after the definite article. The postposition 'zufolge' follows its dative complement 'dem Bericht'. 'angestiegen' is the past participle of the strong verb 'ansteigen', which forms its perfect tenses with 'sein'.
Rules at work(10)
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Schon 2025 war
The fronted time phrase occupies first position, so the finite verb war must come second.
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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war ... angestiegen
Written narrative/reporting style prefers the simple preterite of sein plus participle over the perfect.
The simple past is the written narrative past. In speech it survives mainly in sein, haben and the modals, where hatte and war are far commoner than the perfect forms.
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ausreisepflichtigen Ausländern
The noun phrase after von stands in the dative, shown by the plural ending -n on Ausländern.
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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dem Bericht zufolge
zufolge governs the dative and follows its complement as a postposition.
Aus, außer, bei, mit, nach, seit, von and zu always take the dative. Several of them contract with the article: von dem becomes vom, zu der becomes zur.
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war ... angestiegen
ansteigen denotes a change of state and therefore forms its perfect tenses with sein rather than haben.
Verbs of motion from one place to another and verbs of change of state take sein rather than haben in the perfect, along with sein, werden and bleiben themselves. Er ist gegangen, not er hat gegangen.
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angestiegen
The strong verb ansteigen forms its participle without ge- (inseparable prefix an-) and with the ie grade: angestiegen.
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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angestiegen
The prefix an- here belongs to ansteigen, which is treated as inseparable, so the participle has no ge-.
The prefixes be, emp, ent, er, ge, miss, ver and zer never separate and are never stressed. A verb carrying one also forms its past participle without ge, so verstehen gives verstanden.
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die geförderte freiwillige Rückkehr
After the definite article both attributive adjectives take the weak ending -e.
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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geförderte
The past participle gefördert is used attributively and declined like an adjective.
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.
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Schon 2025 ... dem Bericht zufolge ... deutlich angestiegen
The sentence orders temporal, then source, then manner information before the verb-final participle.
When several adverbial phrases stand in the middle field, the usual order is time, then manner, then place. This is the opposite of the common English order and it is why Ich fahre morgen mit dem Zug nach Berlin sounds right.
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Words(15)
- schon
already, already now
adverbA1temporal
In other contexts schon is also a modal particle adding reassurance or emphasis.
- 2025
2025
numeralA1
- sein
to be
verbA1sein, war, ist gewesenmit seinirregular
Copula here linking subject to predicate noun.
- die
the
determinerA1definite
- gefördert
funded, subsidised
adjectiveB2
- freiwillig
voluntary, voluntarily, of one's own accord
adjectiveB1freiwilliger, am freiwilligsten
Adjective and adverb have the same form: freiwillig ausreisen means 'to leave voluntarily'.
- die Rückkehr
return
nounB1pl. Rückkehrengen. Rückkehrmixed declension
- von
from, of, by
prepositionA1governs dative
Used here to mark authorship, like 'by' in English credits.
- ausreisepflichtig
obliged to leave the country, required to depart
adjectiveC1governs genitive
- der Ausländer
foreigner, foreign national
nounA2pl. Ausländergen. Ausländersmixed declension
- dem
the, to the
determinerA1definite
- der Bericht
report, account
nounB1pl. Berichtegen. Berichtsstrong declension
- zufolge
according to
prepositionB2governs genitive
Follows its noun phrase: 'den Angaben zufolge'; governs the dative.
- deutlich
clear, obvious, distinct, marked
adjectiveA2deutlicher, am deutlichsten
- ansteigen
to rise, to increase
verbB2ansteigen, stieg an, ist angestiegenmit seinseparablestrong
Perfect with sein; separable prefix an-.