Breakdown of Ich hätte nur ein bisschen abschneiden sollen. Jetzt brauche ich den Kamm nicht mehr.
ich
I
jetzt
now
haben
to have
brauchen
to need
nur
only
nicht mehr
no longer, not any more
sollen
should / ought to
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
ein bisschen
a bit, a little
der Kamm
the comb
abschneiden
to cut off
Questions & Answers about Ich hätte nur ein bisschen abschneiden sollen. Jetzt brauche ich den Kamm nicht mehr.
Why is it sollen at the end instead of the past participle gesollt?
This is the "double infinitive" rule. When a modal verb like sollen is used in the past alongside another main verb (abschneiden), it drops its past participle form (gesollt). Instead, both verbs sit at the end of the clause in their infinitive forms.
abschneiden is a separable verb. Why doesn't it split or take a -ge- prefix here?
Because of the double infinitive rule, the main verb stays in its pure, unaltered infinitive form. It doesn't get a -ge- to make a past participle (like abgeschnitten), and it doesn't split, because the helper verb hätte is the only verb that gets conjugated.
What is the strict word order for the verbs in Ich hätte ... abschneiden sollen?
The helper verb hätte takes the standard position 2. The two infinitives are pushed to the very end of the sentence. The main action verb (abschneiden) comes first, immediately followed by the modal verb (sollen).
How does the phrase nicht mehr work here?
nicht mehr is the standard German way to say "not anymore" or "no longer". Notice the word order: the direct object (den Kamm) comes first, followed by nicht, and then mehr at the very end of the sentence.
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