Breakdown of Der Spion will den Auftrag abschließen.
wollen
to want
abschließen
to complete
der Spion
the spy (m)
der Auftrag
the mission
Questions & Answers about Der Spion will den Auftrag abschließen.
Why does this sentence use will if it translates to "wants to"?
The German word will is a classic false friend! It is the third-person singular form of the modal verb wollen (to want). If you wanted to express the English future tense "will" (as in, "The spy will finish..."), you would use the German verb werden: Der Spion wird den Auftrag abschließen.
abschließen is a separable verb. Why isn't the ab- prefix at the end of the sentence?
Because of the modal verb will. When a sentence has a modal verb, that verb takes the conjugated position and pushes the main action verb to the very end of the sentence in its full, unseparated infinitive form. If the spy were just finishing the mission right now without the word "wants", the verb would separate: Der Spion schließt den Auftrag ab.
Why is it den Auftrag instead of der Auftrag?
Auftrag (mission or assignment) is a masculine noun. Because the mission is the direct object receiving the action (it is the thing being finished), it must take the accusative case. For masculine nouns, the definite article der changes to den in the accusative case.
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