Breakdown of Er zieht ihn an, ohne dass wir ihn erschrecken.
er
he
wir
we
ihn
him
anziehen
to put on
ohne dass
without (+ subordinate clause)
erschrecken
to startle
Questions & Answers about Er zieht ihn an, ohne dass wir ihn erschrecken.
The English translation uses the '-ing' word 'startling'. Since we are learning the Present Participle (Partizip I), can we use one here?
No, and this is a common trap for English speakers! English often uses '-ing' words (participles or gerunds) to express 'without doing something'. German never does this. Because the person doing the action changes (he puts it on, but we startle him), you must use the conjunction ohne dass followed by a full subordinate clause. You cannot use a Partizip I here.
Why does ihn translate to 'them' in the first part of the sentence?
The pronoun ihn is the masculine singular 'him' or 'it' in the accusative case. The speaker is referring to a grammatically masculine noun, such as der Schlafanzug (the pajamas) or der Schuh (the shoe). English uses the plural 'them' for words like pajamas, but German requires the singular pronoun to match the gender and number of the original German noun.
Why is the verb erschrecken at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase ohne dass (without) acts as a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause, which forces the conjugated verb (erschrecken) to the very end of that clause.
Why is it zieht ihn an instead of zieht an ihn?
The verb here is anziehen (to put on), which is a separable verb. In a standard main clause, the conjugated part (zieht) takes the second position, and the separable prefix (an) gets kicked to the very end of that specific clause, coming strictly after the direct object (ihn).
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