Breakdown of Ohne die Katastrophe hätten wir die Vorspeise und den Nachtisch gegessen.
und
and
haben
to have
wir
we
essen
to eat
Questions & Answers about Ohne die Katastrophe hätten wir die Vorspeise und den Nachtisch gegessen.
How does this sentence express 'would have eaten'?
It uses the past Konjunktiv II to talk about an unfulfilled condition. To form this, you use the Konjunktiv II form of the helping verb (hätten for verbs that use haben) in the second position, and put the past participle of the main verb (gegessen) at the very end.
Why does hätten come before the subject wir?
The conjugated verb must take the second position in a German main clause. Because the entire phrase Ohne die Katastrophe occupies the first position, the verb hätten comes next, pushing the subject wir to the third position.
Is die Katastrophe in the nominative or accusative case here?
It is in the accusative case. The preposition ohne always requires the accusative case. Because Katastrophe is a feminine noun, the article die looks the same as it does in the nominative, but grammatically it is accusative here.
Why does the article for dessert change to den Nachtisch?
Dessert is a masculine noun (der Nachtisch). In this sentence, both the appetizer and the dessert are the direct objects being eaten, so they must be in the accusative case. The masculine article der changes to den in the accusative.