Breakdown of Eine Drohne ohne Kamera ist ganz sinnlos.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
die Kamera
the camera
ohne
without
Questions & Answers about Eine Drohne ohne Kamera ist ganz sinnlos.
Why is there no article before Kamera?
In German, when you use ohne (without) or mit (with) to talk about a general, non-specific object, you usually drop the article. Saying ohne Kamera sounds much more natural here than ohne eine Kamera.
Why doesn't sinnlos have an adjective ending like sinnlose?
Because it comes after the verb ist and isn't placed directly in front of a noun. Adjectives in this position (called predicate adjectives) never take an ending in German.
How would I change this sentence to say a drone is 'something completely useless' using the grammar from this lesson?
You would use the indefinite pronoun etwas (something) followed by the capitalized, nominalized adjective with a neuter -es ending: Eine Drohne ohne Kamera ist etwas ganz Sinnloses.
Can ganz mean both 'quite' and 'completely'?
Yes! Depending on the context, ganz can mean 'quite' (as in ganz gut) or 'completely'. When paired with an absolute, extreme concept like sinnlos (useless), it naturally translates to 'completely' or 'totally'.