Breakdown of Das Opfer will das Geld gestern überwiesen haben.
haben
to have
das Geld
the money
wollen
to want
gestern
yesterday
das Opfer
the victim
überweisen
to transfer
Questions & Answers about Das Opfer will das Geld gestern überwiesen haben.
Why is will translated as 'claims' instead of 'wants' here?
This is the subjective use of the modal verb wollen. When you pair wollen with a past event, it expresses that the subject is making a personal claim about themselves, often when there is room for doubt. So will ... überwiesen haben means 'claims to have transferred'.
Why does the sentence end with überwiesen haben?
The modal verb will in the second position pushes the main action to the very end of the sentence. Because the victim is claiming something they did in the past, we use the perfect infinitive form. This is made by combining the past participle überwiesen (transferred) with the infinitive haben (to have).
If someone else claimed the victim transferred the money, would I still use wollen?
No, if it is a rumor or a claim made by someone else, you would use sollen. Das Opfer soll das Geld überwiesen haben means 'The victim is said to have transferred the money.' We only use wollen when the claim comes directly from the subject themselves.
Could I change the word order and put gestern before das Geld?
Yes, you could say Das Opfer will gestern das Geld überwiesen haben. German word order is flexible here. Placing das Geld before gestern in the original sentence just puts a little more focus on the specific money as already known information.
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