Breakdown of Würdet ihr den Fernseher ausschalten?
ihr
you (informal plural)
der Fernseher
the TV / the television
würde
would (conditional auxiliary)
ausschalten
to turn off
Questions & Answers about Würdet ihr den Fernseher ausschalten?
Why is it würdet instead of würden or würdest?
Würdet is the conjugated form of würden (would) that matches the subject ihr (the informal plural you, like you guys). If you were asking one person informally, you would say Würdest du, and for the formal you, it would be Würden Sie.
Why is the verb ausschalten at the very end of the sentence?
When making polite requests with würden, it acts like a modal helping verb. The conjugated form (würdet) takes the first position in this yes/no question, and it pushes the main action verb (ausschalten) to the very end of the sentence in its basic infinitive form.
Isn't ausschalten a separable verb? Why didn't aus split off?
Separable verbs only split when they are the active, conjugated verb in the sentence (for example: Ihr schaltet den Fernseher aus). Because würdet is the conjugated verb here, ausschalten stays glued together in its full dictionary form at the end.
Why is it den Fernseher and not der Fernseher?
The television is the direct object of the sentence because it is the thing being turned off. This means it needs to be in the accusative case. The masculine noun der Fernseher changes to den Fernseher in the accusative case.
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