Breakdown of Ich wusste ohne Zweifel, dass ich das Projekt selbst aufbauen musste.
ich
I
müssen
to have to, must
ohne
without
das Projekt
the project
wissen
to know (a fact)
dass
that
aufbauen
to build up
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
selbst
oneself, myself (emphatic); even
der Zweifel
the doubt
Questions & Answers about Ich wusste ohne Zweifel, dass ich das Projekt selbst aufbauen musste.
Why use selbst here instead of mich, and could I use selber instead?
selbst is an emphatic intensifier meaning 'myself' or 'personally', not a reflexive pronoun like mich. It emphasizes that you did it rather than someone else doing it for you. You can absolutely use selber here too! selber means the exact same thing but is used mostly in casual, spoken German, while selbst is the standard for both writing and speaking.
Why does selbst come after das Projekt? Could I say '... dass ich selbst das Projekt ...'?
Yes, you can! Placing selbst right after ich emphasizes the subject directly ('I myself had to build the project'). Placing it after the object, as it is in this sentence, is also very common and focuses the emphasis on your personal involvement in the action of building the project. Both are completely correct.
Why are aufbauen and musste at the very end of the sentence?
The word dass (that) is a subordinating conjunction, which always kicks the conjugated verb to the end of its clause. Here, musste (had to) is the conjugated verb, so it goes at the very end, right after the infinitive verb aufbauen (to build up).
Why do we use wusste and musste instead of the spoken past tense (Perfekt)?
wusste and musste are the simple past (Präteritum) forms of wissen (to know) and müssen (to have to). In German, it is much more natural and common to use the simple past for modal verbs and for wissen, even in casual conversations where the spoken past (Perfekt) is normally used for almost all other verbs.
Does the preposition ohne affect the case of Zweifel?
Yes! The preposition ohne always requires the accusative case. Since Zweifel (doubt) is a masculine noun, you might expect to see ohne den Zweifel, but in common abstract phrases like ohne Zweifel (without a doubt), the article is simply dropped.
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