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From Warken zu Reformvorhaben: "Nicht im Voraus schon Dinge tot reden", tagesschau.de, 25 August 2026. Quoted for study. The words are the publisher's; the analysis is ours.
Meaning
Most recently, demands from the business world, among others, grew louder that the decisions would have to come quickly and be tangible.
Word for word: Lately multiplied themselves, for-instance, demands out-of the economy, the decisions would-have-to quickly come and tangible be.
Typical news-register phrasing: it reports that lately there were growing calls from industry insisting that decisions be taken promptly and have a clearly noticeable effect.
The main clause is verb-second: the temporal adverb 'Zuletzt' opens, the finite preterite 'mehrten' follows, and the plural subject 'Forderungen' comes after the reflexive pronoun 'sich'. The preposition 'aus' governs the dative 'der Wirtschaft'. After 'Forderungen' follows a content clause without 'dass' that states what is demanded; it keeps main-clause word order, and the necessity is carried by the Konjunktiv II 'müssten', chosen because the Konjunktiv I form 'müssen' would be identical to the indicative for a plural subject. The modal governs two coordinated bare infinitives, 'kommen' and 'sein', with 'spürbar' as an uninflected predicative adjective.
Rules at work(6)
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mehrten sich
'sich mehren' is a fixed reflexive verb; the accusative 'sich' points back to the subject 'Forderungen' and cannot be dropped.
A reflexive verb takes a pronoun pointing back at the subject. The pronoun is usually accusative, but it turns dative as soon as the verb has another direct object, which is why it is ich wasche mich but ich wasche mir die Hände.
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müssten
In the reported demand the Konjunktiv I form 'müssen' would be identical to the indicative for a plural subject, so Konjunktiv II 'müssten' signals the reported necessity.
The form for the hypothetical, the unreal and the polite. Wäre, hätte and the modals have their own forms; most other verbs use würde plus an infinitive.
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müssten schnell kommen und spürbar sein
The modal 'müssten' takes two coordinated bare infinitives, 'kommen' and 'sein', at the end of the clause.
The six modals können, müssen, dürfen, sollen, wollen and mögen say something about the main verb rather than naming an action. The modal is the finite verb in second position and the main verb goes to the end of the clause as an infinitive.
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aus der Wirtschaft
'aus' always governs the dative, hence the dative phrase 'der Wirtschaft'.
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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mehrten
Written narration and news prose prefer the simple preterite over the spoken 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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Forderungen
Both subjects, 'Forderungen' in the main clause and 'die Beschlüsse' in the demand clause, stand in the nominative.
The nominative marks the subject of the clause: whoever or whatever is doing the verb. It is also the case used after the verbs sein, werden and bleiben, so both sides of Das ist mein Bruder stand in the nominative.
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Words(15)
- zuletzt
recently, lately, finally, last of all
adverbB1temporal
Can mean either 'lately' (as here) or 'last in a series'; context decides.
- mehren
to increase, multiply (in number)
verbC1mehren, mehrte, hat gemehrtmit habenweak
Almost always reflexive ('sich mehren') and confined to formal, mainly journalistic style.
- sich
himself/herself/themselves, itself
pronounA2reflexive
Always refers back to the subject; here it is fixed to the verb 'sich mehren'.
- etwa
for example, roughly, perhaps
adverbB2modal
'Etwa' can mean 'approximately', 'perhaps', or here 'for example'; context decides.
- die Forderung
demand, call, claim
nounB2pl. Forderungengen. Forderungmixed declension
- aus
out of, from, made of
prepositionA1governs dative
- der
the
determinerA1definite
Appears twice: dative feminine 'der Wirtschaft' and nominative plural 'die Beschlüsse'.
- die Wirtschaft
economy, business community, inn
nounB1pl. Wirtschaftengen. Wirtschaftstrong declension
'aus der Wirtschaft' here means 'from the business world', not 'from an inn'.
- der Beschluss
decision, resolution
nounB2pl. Beschlüssegen. Beschlussesstrong declension
- müssen
must, to have to
verbA1müssen, musste, hat gemusstmit habenmodal
The dependent infinitive goes to the end of the clause.
- schnell
quickly, fast
adverbA1modal
- kommen
to come
verbA1kommen, kam, ist gekommenmit seinstrong
Figurative here: the decisions should 'come', i.e. appear soon.
- und
and
conjunctionA1coordinating
- spürbar
noticeable, tangible, perceptible
adjectiveB2spürbarer, am spürbarsten
- sein
to be
verbA1sein, war, ist gewesenmit seinirregular
Copula here linking subject to predicate noun.