Breakdown of Gestern konnte ich das Rathaus und den Palast bewundern.
ich
I
und
and
können
can / to be able to
gestern
yesterday
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
das Rathaus
the town hall, city hall
bewundern
to admire
der Palast
the palace
Questions & Answers about Gestern konnte ich das Rathaus und den Palast bewundern.
Why use konnte here instead of the regular past tense with habe?
Konnte is the simple past (Präteritum) of the modal verb können (can/to be able to). While spoken German usually prefers the perfect tense with haben or sein for past actions, modal verbs are a big exception. It sounds much more natural to use their simple past forms, like ich konnte (I could), instead of the perfect tense.
Why is the subject ich placed after the verb konnte?
Because the sentence starts with the time word Gestern. In German, the conjugated verb must always be in the second position of a regular statement. Since Gestern takes up the first spot, the verb konnte takes the second spot, pushing the subject ich into the third position.
Why does the sentence say den Palast instead of der Palast?
Because the palace is the direct object being admired, which requires the accusative case. Palast is a masculine noun (der Palast), and in the accusative case, der changes to den. The town hall (das Rathaus) is also in the accusative case, but neuter words do not change their articles, so it stays das.
Why is bewundern at the very end of the sentence?
This is the standard rule for modal verbs. The conjugated modal verb (konnte) takes the second position, and the main action verb (bewundern) gets kicked to the very end of the sentence in its full dictionary form (the infinitive).
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