Breakdown of Der Sohn kaut den Keks, ohne dass er die Erlaubnis hat.
er
he
haben
to have
der Sohn
the son
der Keks
the cookie
ohne dass
without (+ subordinate clause)
die Erlaubnis
the permission
kauen
to chew
Questions & Answers about Der Sohn kaut den Keks, ohne dass er die Erlaubnis hat.
Why does this sentence say ohne dass er ... hat instead of just translating "without having"?
English often uses "without" plus an "-ing" verb. German cannot do this. To express "without doing something", German uses either the conjunction ohne dass (literally "without that") followed by a full clause, or an ohne ... zu infinitive phrase.
Since the son is the subject of both halves of the sentence, could I use an ohne ... zu construction here instead?
Yes! Because the subject (der Sohn / er) is exactly the same in both the main clause and the dependent clause, you could say Der Sohn kaut den Keks, ohne die Erlaubnis zu haben. Both are grammatically correct, though native speakers often prefer the ohne ... zu version because it is less repetitive.
Why does the verb hat go at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase ohne dass acts as a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which means the conjugated verb (in this case, hat) must be kicked to the very end of that clause.
Is the noun Erlaubnis related to the verb erlauben?
Yes, die Erlaubnis (the permission) is the noun form of erlauben (to allow). The suffix -nis is often added to verb stems to create a noun. Nouns ending in -nis are usually feminine (like this one) or neuter (like das Geheimnis).
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