Breakdown of Warum missachtet er die Warnung völlig?
er
he
warum
why
die Warnung
the warning
völlig
completely
missachten
to ignore (rules, warnings)
Questions & Answers about Warum missachtet er die Warnung völlig?
How does the prefix miss- change the verb achten here?
The base verb achten means "to respect" or "to pay attention to." Adding the prefix miss- expresses a negative or incorrect action, similar to "dis-" or "mis-" in English. So, missachten means "to disregard" or "to ignore."
Since miss- is a prefix, is missachten a separable verb?
No, the prefix miss- is almost always inseparable. That is why it stays attached to the verb in this sentence instead of moving to the end. Because it is inseparable, it also does not take the ge- prefix in the perfect tense. "He has disregarded" would simply be er hat missachtet (not gemissachtet).
Why is it die Warnung in this sentence?
Warnung is the direct object being disregarded, so it must be in the accusative case. You can easily spot its gender because any German noun ending in the suffix -ung is feminine. The feminine accusative article is die.
Could I use ignorieren instead of missachten in this sentence?
Yes, Warum ignoriert er die Warnung völlig? would mean exactly the same thing. However, missachten sounds a bit more formal and is strongly associated with deliberately breaking rules, laws, or warnings, while ignorieren is used more broadly in everyday life for ignoring people or things.
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