Breakdown of Er sieht, dass du den Computer einschaltest.
du
you (informal singular)
er
he
sehen
to see
der Computer
the computer
dass
that
einschalten
to turn on
Questions & Answers about Er sieht, dass du den Computer einschaltest.
Why is einschaltest at the very end of the sentence?
The word dass (that) is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause and forces the conjugated verb to move to the very end of that clause.
I learned that einschalten is a separable verb. Why isn't the ein separated here?
You are right, normally it splits as in: Du schaltest den Computer ein. However, because dass pushes the verb to the end of the sentence, the prefix and the verb meet at the end and get glued back together into a single word: einschaltest.
Why is it den Computer instead of der Computer?
Computer is a masculine noun. Here, the computer is the direct object because it is the thing being turned on. In German, masculine direct objects change to the accusative case, so der becomes den.
How would I change this to say 'He sees that you would turn on the computer' using our current lesson's grammar?
You would use würdest because the subject is du, and it goes to the very end because of dass. The main verb goes right before it in its infinitive (dictionary) form. It becomes: Er sieht, dass du den Computer einschalten würdest.
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