Breakdown of Die Gäste tolerieren den Lärm, ohne dass jemand meckert.
jemand
someone
der Gast
the guest
der Lärm
the noise
tolerieren
to tolerate
ohne dass
without (+ subordinate clause)
meckern
to complain
Questions & Answers about Die Gäste tolerieren den Lärm, ohne dass jemand meckert.
Why do we use ohne dass here instead of ohne ... zu?
You use ohne ... zu (without doing something) when the subject of both clauses is the same. In this sentence, the subjects are different: the guests (Die Gäste) tolerate the noise, but someone else (jemand) is not complaining. Because the subjects change, you must use ohne dass.
Why is the verb meckert at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase ohne dass is a subordinating conjunction. This means it introduces a dependent clause and forces the conjugated verb (meckert) to move to the very end of that clause.
Why does the sentence use den Lärm instead of der Lärm?
The noun der Lärm (the noise) is masculine. Because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb tolerieren, it takes the accusative case, changing the article from der to den.
I usually use words like sich beschweren for complaining. Is meckern used the same way?
They are similar, but meckern is more informal. It translates closer to 'to gripe', 'to moan', or 'to whine', and is very common in everyday spoken German. Fun fact: it is also the word for the bleating sound a goat makes!
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