Breakdown of Diese Aufgabe ist deine Pflicht, aber du hast sie nicht machen wollen.
sein
to be
du
you (informal singular)
sie
she
machen
to make, to do
haben
to have
aber
but
nicht
not
dein
your (informal)
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
wollen
to want
die Aufgabe
the task
die Pflicht
the duty
Questions & Answers about Diese Aufgabe ist deine Pflicht, aber du hast sie nicht machen wollen.
Why is it machen wollen instead of the usual past participle gewollt?
This is the double infinitive rule in action! When a modal verb like wollen is used in the Perfekt tense along with another verb, it doesn't use its normal past participle (gewollt). Instead, it stays in its infinitive form. You end up with two infinitives in a row at the end of the clause.
How do I know which order to put the two infinitives in at the end?
The modal verb always comes last. In our sentence, the action verb machen (to do) goes first, followed immediately by the modal verb wollen (to want). This is the standard word order for the double infinitive construction.
Why does the second clause use the pronoun sie to mean 'it'?
In German, pronouns must match the gender of the noun they replace. sie refers back to Diese Aufgabe (this task). Because Aufgabe is a feminine noun, we use the feminine pronoun sie, even though in English we just say 'it'.
Since aber connects the two clauses, does it change the word order in the second half?
No, aber is a coordinating conjunction, which means it occupies 'position zero' and doesn't affect the word order. That's why the subject du takes position 1 and the conjugated helping verb hast stays in its normal position 2.
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