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From Ernährungssicherheit: NABU-Studie zweifelt an Nutzen der EU-Agrarhilfen, tagesschau.de, 20 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
Much of it is distributed with the watering can, via so-called direct payments.
Word for word: Much of that will be distributed with the watering can, over so-called direct payments.
Said of EU agricultural subsidies: much of the money reaches farmers through 'direct payments', and the watering-can metaphor suggests it is spread thinly and indiscriminately.
A main clause in the present tense passive voice: 'Viel davon' is the nominative subject, 'wird ... verteilt' is the passive (werden + past participle), and 'über sogenannte Direktzahlungen' is a prepositional phrase specifying the means, set off by a comma as an afterthought.
Rules at work(7)
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wird verteilt
The agent is unimportant or obvious, so werden + past participle forms a present-tense passive.
Werden plus a past participle. The agent, when it is mentioned at all, follows von for a person and durch for a means. In the perfect passive the participle of werden appears as worden rather than geworden.
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Viel davon wird
The finite verb occupies second position after the fronted 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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Viel davon wird
The singular subject 'Viel' takes the third-person singular form 'wird'.
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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mit der Gießkanne
The preposition 'mit' always governs 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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über sogenannte Direktzahlungen
'über' here takes the accusative to express means ('via').
Durch, für, gegen, ohne and um always take the accusative, whatever they mean and whatever follows them.
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sogenannte Direktzahlungen
With no preceding article, the adjective takes the strong plural accusative ending -e.
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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davon
'davon' = da(r) + von, referring back to a previously mentioned quantity.
Where a preposition would be followed by a pronoun standing for a thing rather than a person, German fuses the two: damit, darauf, davon. An r appears between them when the preposition begins with a vowel.
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Words(10)
- viel
much, a lot
pronounA1indefinite
- davon
of it, about it
adverbA2conjunctional
Da-compound standing in for 'von + noun'; English uses 'of/about it'.
- werden
become, will (future auxiliary)
verbA2werden, wurde, ist gewordenmit habenirregular
Also the passive auxiliary; do not confuse with bekommen (= receive).
- mit
with, by (means of transport)
prepositionA1governs dative
Always dative, including travel: 'mit dem Bus, mit dem Rad'.
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- die Gießkanne
watering can
nounB1pl. Gießkannengen. der Gießkannemixed declension
- verteilen
to distribute, to spread around
verbB1verteilen, verteilte, hat verteiltmit habenweakgoverns accusative
Inseparable ver- prefix: no ge- in the participle beyond the one in verteilt itself.
- über
over, above, about, via, by way of
prepositionA1governs accusative or dative
Accusative with movement or route, as here ('via the programme'); dative for static location.
- sogenannt
so-called
adjectiveB1-, -
Often signals scepticism about the term that follows.
- die Direktzahlung
direct payment (EU farm subsidy)
nounC1pl. Direktzahlungengen. der Direktzahlungmixed declension