Breakdown of Du nimmst das Auto, ohne dass ich dir die Erlaubnis gebe.
ich
I
du
you (informal singular)
das Auto
the car
nehmen
to take
geben
to give
dir
you / to you [informal singular, dative]
ohne dass
without (+ subordinate clause)
die Erlaubnis
the permission
Questions & Answers about Du nimmst das Auto, ohne dass ich dir die Erlaubnis gebe.
Why do we use ohne dass here instead of ohne ... zu?
You must use ohne dass when the two halves of the sentence have different subjects. Here, the subject of the main clause is du (you), but the subject of the dependent clause is ich (I). If the subject were the same in both parts—for example, "You take the car without having permission"—you would use the infinitive structure ohne ... zu (ohne die Erlaubnis zu haben).
Why is the verb gebe at the very end of the sentence?
ohne dass is a subordinating conjunction. Just like weil or dass, it introduces a dependent clause. In German, dependent clauses always push their conjugated verb (in this case, gebe) to the very end.
The English translation says "without me giving", but German just says gebe (give). How do we translate the "-ing" part?
German generally does not use "-ing" forms (gerunds) the way English does. When English uses phrases like "without me giving" or "instead of him going", German builds a full mini-sentence using ohne dass or anstatt dass followed by a subject and a regular conjugated verb. So, "without me giving" literally translates to "without that I give" (ohne dass ich ... gebe).
Why is it dir instead of dich?
The verb geben (to give) requires the dative case for the person receiving the item. The thing being given—die Erlaubnis (the permission)—is the direct object in the accusative case. Since "you" are the one receiving the permission, we use the dative pronoun dir.
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