Breakdown of Ohne das Fernglas kann man den breiten Flügel fast nicht sehen.
nicht
not
sehen
to see
können
can / to be able to
fast
almost
Questions & Answers about Ohne das Fernglas kann man den breiten Flügel fast nicht sehen.
This lesson is about using "können" for assumptions. Is that how "kann" is used in this sentence?
No, here können is used in its basic, everyday sense to express physical ability: you literally are not able to see the wing. When used for an assumption (subjective use), können means something is possible, like in Er kann zu Hause sein (He might be at home).
Why does the adjective have an "-en" ending in den breiten Flügel?
Flügel (wing) is a masculine noun acting as the direct object, so it takes the accusative article den. When an adjective comes after a definite accusative article like den, it takes the weak ending -en.
Why are the subject and verb swapped here (kann man instead of man kann)?
In German statements, the conjugated verb must always be in the second position. Because the prepositional phrase Ohne das Fernglas takes up the entire first position, the verb kann must come next. The subject man is then pushed to the third position.
The translation says "barely", but the German says fast nicht. Is there a single word for "barely"?
Yes, the word kaum means barely or hardly. However, Germans very often use fast nicht (literally "almost not") to mean the exact same thing. You could easily rewrite this part as kann man kaum sehen.