Word
Ohne die Feuerwehr dürfte der Notarzt das Problem nicht lösen.
Meaning
Without the fire department, the emergency doctor would likely not solve the problem.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ohne die Feuerwehr dürfte der Notarzt das Problem nicht lösen.
das Problem
the problem
nicht
not
dürfen
to be allowed to, may
ohne
without
Questions & Answers about Ohne die Feuerwehr dürfte der Notarzt das Problem nicht lösen.
Why does dürfte translate to "would likely" here instead of "would be allowed to"?
In its normal form, dürfen means "to be allowed to." However, when you use its Konjunktiv II form (dürfte), it very often takes on a special meaning: "would likely" or "probably." Germans use it to express a strong guess or assumption.
Is die Feuerwehr in the nominative or accusative case here?
It is in the accusative case. The preposition ohne (without) always forces the noun that follows it into the accusative. Because Feuerwehr is a feminine noun, its accusative word (die) looks exactly the same as the nominative.
Why is the main verb lösen at the very end of the sentence?
This is due to the modal verb dürfte. When you have a modal verb in a German sentence, it takes the conjugated second position, and it pushes the main action verb (lösen) to the very end of the sentence in its infinitive (unchanged) form.
Does Ohne die Feuerwehr count as the first position in the sentence?
Yes! In German word order, a "position" can be an entire phrase, not just a single word. The whole prepositional phrase Ohne die Feuerwehr sits in Position 1, which perfectly sets up the verb dürfte to take Position 2.