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Second sentence of Wagenknecht und das BSW: Mit Schlagzeilen in den Überlebenskampf, tagesschau.de, 18 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
What is going on there? By Frank Aischmann, ARD capital studio. The BSW is fighting for political survival.
Word for word: What goes there before itself? From Frank Aischmann, ARD capital studio. The BSW leads a political survival struggle.
A journalistic headline question asking what is happening, followed by the author's attribution and a lead sentence stating that the BSW party is struggling to survive politically.
The first sentence is a w-question with the interrogative pronoun was in subject position and the verb-second order; the fixed reflexive expression vor sich gehen takes the dummy subject es, which is dropped in questions. The byline is a fragment with a von-phrase. The final sentence is a simple main clause in the present tense with the accusative object einen politischen Überlebenskampf.
Rules at work(7)
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Was geht da vor sich?
The question opens with the interrogative was and the finite verb stands in second position.
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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Das BSW führt einen politischen Überlebenskampf.
In the declarative main clause the finite verb occupies the second position after the subject.
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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einen politischen Überlebenskampf
The direct object of führen stands in the accusative, shown by einen and the mixed adjective ending.
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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Das BSW führt
The singular neuter subject BSW takes the third person singular form führt.
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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einen politischen Überlebenskampf
After the indefinite determiner einen the adjective takes the mixed ending -en.
After ein, kein and a possessive, the adjective takes strong endings exactly where the article shows nothing, which is the masculine nominative and the neuter nominative and accusative, and weak endings everywhere else.
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führt
The present tense is used for a current ongoing situation.
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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Überlebenskampf
The noun is a compound of Überleben and Kampf linked with the Fugen-s.
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(15)
- was
what, which
pronounA1interrogative
Was is used as a relative pronoun after das, alles, etwas, nichts and superlatives.
- 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.
- da
there, then, so, because (subordinating)
adverbA1local
As a sentence-opening adverb it often has causal force: 'that is why'.
- vor
before, in front of, ago
prepositionA1governs dative
With clock time ('vor 7 Uhr') it means 'before' and takes no visible case change.
- sich
himself/herself/themselves, itself
pronounA2reflexive
Always refers back to the subject; here it is fixed to the verb 'sich mehren'.
- von
from, of, by
prepositionA1governs dative
Used here to mark authorship, like 'by' in English credits.
- der Frank
Frank (male given name)
nounA1pl. Franksgen. Franksweak declension
- der Aischmann
Aischmann (surname)
nounC2pl. Aischmannsgen. Aischmannsweak declension
- das ARD-Hauptstadtstudio
ARD capital studio (ARD's Berlin studio)
nounC2pl. ARD-Hauptstadtstudiosgen. ARD-Hauptstadtstudiosstrong declension
Proper name of the Berlin studio of ARD, the umbrella organisation of German public broadcasters; treat it as a fixed name.
- das
the
determinerA1definite
- das BSW
Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht, a left-populist party
nounC1pl. BSWgen. BSWinvariable declension
Indeclinable abbreviation; case must be read from the article.
- führen
to lead, to conduct, wage, to carry
verbA2führen, führte, geführtmit habenweak
- ein
a, an, one
determinerA1indefinite
The form einer here is dative feminine singular, not the pronoun meaning 'one'.
- politisch
political
adjectiveA2politischer, am politischsten
Usually refers to public or state affairs, not personal matters.
- der Überlebenskampf
struggle for survival, fight for survival
nounC1pl. Überlebenskämpfegen. Überlebenskampfesstrong declension