Breakdown of Kein Kind will abstauben oder Wäsche falten.
das Kind
the child
kein
no, not any
wollen
to want
oder
or
die Wäsche
the laundry
abstauben
to dust
falten
to fold
Questions & Answers about Kein Kind will abstauben oder Wäsche falten.
Why is abstauben written as one word here if it is a separable verb?
Because it is used with the modal verb will. Modal verbs send the main verb to the end of the clause in its full, unseparated infinitive form. If you used it as the main verb, it would separate: Das Kind staubt ab (The child dusts).
Why is there no article before Wäsche?
Just like in English, German often drops the article before uncountable mass nouns when talking about an activity in a general, unspecified way. This is known as using the zero article.
How would we use the gehören + Past Participle structure from this lesson to say these specific chores need to be done?
You would take the noun and the past participle of these verbs. To say 'The laundry needs to be folded', you say Die Wäsche gehört gefaltet. For dusting, you could use a dummy subject: Es gehört abgestaubt (It needs to be dusted).
How does oder affect the sentence structure here?
The conjunction oder (or) links two coordinate infinitive phrases: abstauben and Wäsche falten. Because both actions share the same subject (Kein Kind) and modal verb (will), both verbs simply stay in their infinitive forms at the end of their respective phrases.
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