Breakdown of Soll ich meine Jacke ausziehen oder darf ich sie anbehalten?
ich
I
sie
she
die Jacke
the jacket
mein
my
dürfen
to be allowed to, may
oder
or
sollen
should / ought to
anbehalten
to keep on
ausziehen
to take off
Questions & Answers about Soll ich meine Jacke ausziehen oder darf ich sie anbehalten?
Why is sie used here to mean 'it'?
In German, pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace. Because jacket is feminine (die Jacke), you must use the feminine pronoun sie instead of the neuter es.
Why do ausziehen and anbehalten stay together in one piece? Aren't they separable verbs?
They are separable verbs, but because this sentence uses the modal verbs sollen (should) and dürfen (may), the main action verbs are pushed to the very end of their clauses in their full infinitive (dictionary) form. Separable verbs only split when they are the conjugated verb in the sentence.
How does oder affect the word order in the second half of the sentence?
The word oder (or) is a coordinating conjunction, which means it takes up 'position zero' and doesn't change the word order of the clause that follows it. The second clause simply starts a new yes/no question with the verb darf in the first position.
Why use soll instead of sollte for 'should'?
While sollte is great for giving advice, using the present tense Soll ich...? is the standard German way to ask 'Am I supposed to...?' or ask someone for their immediate instructions or preference.
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