Breakdown of Du musst auf jeden Fall den Arzt fragen.
du
you (informal singular)
fragen
to ask
müssen
to have to, must
der Arzt
the doctor
auf jeden Fall
definitely, in any case
Questions & Answers about Du musst auf jeden Fall den Arzt fragen.
What does auf jeden Fall mean literally, and why does it use jeden?
It literally means "on every case," but it is a very common fixed phrase used to mean "definitely" or "in any case." Fall is a masculine noun (der Fall). In this phrase, the preposition auf triggers the accusative case, which gives the word for "every" (jeder) the masculine accusative ending -en.
Why is it den Arzt instead of der Arzt or dem Arzt?
The verb fragen (to ask) takes a direct object, which requires the accusative case. Because Arzt (doctor) is a masculine noun, the word for "the" changes from der to den. It is helpful to remember this because other common communication verbs like antworten (to answer) take the dative case instead!
Why is the verb fragen placed at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence uses the modal verb musst (must or have to) in the second position. In German, when you use a conjugated modal verb, the main action verb (fragen) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence in its basic, unaltered dictionary form.
How would I use this same phrase to say "definitely not"?
You can simply change jeden to the negative word keinen. Auf keinen Fall is a highly useful, natural-sounding phrase that means "under no circumstances" or "definitely not."
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