Word
Ihr sollt diese Regel nicht missachten.
Meaning
You should not disregard this rule.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Ihr sollt diese Regel nicht missachten.
ihr
you (informal plural)
nicht
not
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
sollen
should / ought to
Questions & Answers about Ihr sollt diese Regel nicht missachten.
Is the prefix miss- in missachten separable?
No, miss- is an inseparable prefix. It works just like "mis-" or "dis-" in English to give a verb a negative or "wrong" meaning. Because it is inseparable, you wouldn't split it off if it were the conjugated verb. Here, it sits at the end of the sentence as an intact infinitive because of the modal verb sollt.
What is the base verb for missachten?
It comes from achten, which means to respect, esteem, or pay attention to. By attaching the negative prefix miss-, the meaning flips to "disregard" or "disobey".
Why is nicht placed right before missachten instead of earlier in the sentence?
In German, nicht usually goes right before the specific element it is negating. Here, the sentence is negating the action of disregarding (missachten), so nicht sits right in front of the infinitive at the end of the clause.
Why do we use diese for Regel?
Regel (rule) is a feminine noun, and it is the direct object of this sentence (the thing you shouldn't disregard). Because it is the direct object, it is in the accusative case. The feminine accusative ending for "dies-" is "-e", making it diese Regel.