Breakdown of Während der Arzt spricht, klingelt das Handy, ohne dass der Mann es ausmacht.
der Mann
the man
es
it
das Handy
the cellphone
sprechen
to speak
der Arzt
the doctor
klingeln
to ring
ausmachen
to turn off (a device)
während
while
ohne dass
without (+ subordinate clause)
Questions & Answers about Während der Arzt spricht, klingelt das Handy, ohne dass der Mann es ausmacht.
Why do we use ohne dass here instead of ohne ... zu?
We use ohne dass because the main action and the "without" action have different subjects. The cell phone (das Handy) is ringing, but the man (der Mann) is the one not turning it off. If the subject were the same for both actions, we would use ohne ... zu instead.
What happens to the separable verb ausmachen in the ohne dass clause?
Because ohne dass is a subordinating conjunction, it sends the conjugated verb to the very end of the clause. When a separable verb like ausmachen is pushed to the end like this, its prefix (aus) and the main verb (macht) merge back together into a single word: ausmacht.
Why does the middle part say klingelt das Handy instead of das Handy klingelt?
The sentence begins with a subordinate clause (Während der Arzt spricht). In German sentence structure, this entire "while" clause takes up position 1. Since the main verb must always be in position 2, klingelt comes immediately after the comma, followed by the subject das Handy.
Why is the pronoun es used for the cell phone?
Pronouns always have to match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace. Because cell phone is a neuter noun in German (das Handy), you must use the neuter pronoun es to mean "it".
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