Word
Sie wird die Glatze bedauern. Sie hätte den Zopf behalten sollen.
Meaning
She will regret the bald head. She should have kept the braid.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Sie wird die Glatze bedauern. Sie hätte den Zopf behalten sollen.
sie
she
haben
to have
sollen
should / ought to
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
Questions & Answers about Sie wird die Glatze bedauern. Sie hätte den Zopf behalten sollen.
Why are there two infinitives (behalten sollen) at the end of the second sentence?
This is the double infinitive rule. To express a missed obligation in the past like she should have kept it, you use the Konjunktiv II form of haben (hätte) along with the infinitive of the main verb (behalten) and the infinitive of the modal verb (sollen) instead of a past participle.
Why does hätte come right after the subject instead of at the end?
Because this is a standard main clause, the conjugated auxiliary verb hätte must stay in the second position. Only the double infinitive (behalten sollen) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Why does the second sentence say den Zopf instead of der Zopf?
The German word for braid is masculine (der Zopf). Because the braid is the direct object being kept in this sentence, it takes the accusative case and changes to den Zopf.
How does the first sentence express the future tense?
It uses the Futur I tense, which is formed with a conjugated form of werden (here wird) in the second position, and the main verb bedauern (to regret) in its infinitive form at the end of the sentence.