Breakdown of Es ist ausweglos, egal, wie viele Schritte wir machen.
sein
to be
es
it
machen
to make, to do
wir
we
viel
much / a lot
wie
how
egal
all the same, not mattering
ausweglos
hopeless (no way out)
der Schritt
the step (walking, pace)
Questions & Answers about Es ist ausweglos, egal, wie viele Schritte wir machen.
Why is the verb machen at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase egal, wie... (no matter how...) introduces a subordinate clause here. In German, when you have a W-word like wie acting as a conjunction after egal, it kicks the conjugated verb (machen) to the end of that clause.
How does the word ausweglos translate to "hopeless"?
It is a very literal compound word! It combines der Ausweg (the way out) and the suffix -los (meaning "-less" or "without"). So it literally means "without a way out".
Why is it wie viele instead of just wie viel?
Because it describes the plural, countable noun Schritte (steps). You use wie viele for "how many" (countable items) and wie viel for "how much" (uncountable things like time or water).
Why are there commas on both sides of egal?
Grammatically, egal functions here as a shortened main clause meaning "it doesn't matter". Because German requires commas between clauses, you need one before egal to separate it from the first main clause, and one after it before the W-word subordinate clause begins.
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