Breakdown of Niemand kann dein Schicksal vorhersagen.
dein
your (informal)
können
can / to be able to
niemand
no one
vorhersagen
to predict
das Schicksal
the fate
Questions & Answers about Niemand kann dein Schicksal vorhersagen.
Wait, this lesson is about the future tense with 'werden'. Why isn't 'werden' used in this sentence?
Even though the sentence is about the future (predicting fate), it is stating a general fact in the present tense: 'Nobody is able to...'. That's why it uses the present tense modal verb kann (can). If you actually wanted to use the future tense to say 'Nobody will predict your fate,' you would use wird: Niemand wird dein Schicksal vorhersagen.
Is vorhersagen a separable verb? Why isn't it split up here?
Yes, it is a separable verb (vorher + sagen). However, because the sentence uses the modal verb kann in the second position, the main verb vorhersagen gets pushed to the very end of the sentence in its full infinitive (dictionary) form. If you took away the modal verb, it would split as usual: Er sagt dein Schicksal vorher (He predicts your fate).
Why is it dein Schicksal and not deinen or deine?
Schicksal (fate/destiny) is a neuter noun (das Schicksal), and it is the direct object (accusative case) in this sentence. For neuter nouns in the accusative case, possessive words like dein (your) or mein (my) don't take any extra endings.
Does niemand always take a singular verb?
Yes! Just like 'nobody' in English, the pronoun niemand counts as a third-person singular subject (acting like he, she, or it). That is why the verb is conjugated as kann instead of the plural form können.
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