Breakdown of Der Chef sagt, ich solle den Entwurf überarbeiten und heute einreichen.
ich
I
und
and
sagen
to say
heute
today
der Chef
the boss (male)
sollen
should / ought to
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
der Entwurf
the draft
überarbeiten
to revise
einreichen
to submit
Questions & Answers about Der Chef sagt, ich solle den Entwurf überarbeiten und heute einreichen.
Why use solle instead of the normal present tense soll?
solle is the Konjunktiv I (Subjunctive I) form of sollen. We use it here to report an indirect command. The boss originally used a direct command (like "Überarbeiten Sie...!" - Revise...!). To report someone else's command or request indirectly, German uses sollen (or mögen for polite requests) in Konjunktiv I.
Why is there no dass after sagt, and why isn't solle at the very end of the sentence?
In reported speech, it's very common to drop the conjunction dass (that). When you drop dass, the reported clause uses standard main-clause word order, meaning the conjugated verb (solle) takes the second position right after ich. If you had used dass, the verb would go to the end: ... dass ich den Entwurf überarbeiten und heute einreichen solle.
einreichen is a separable verb (ein·reichen). Why isn't the prefix separated here?
Because it is being used as an infinitive. Modal verbs like sollen push the main verb to the end of the clause in its full, unchanged infinitive form. Since it's not the conjugated verb being actively matched to a subject, the prefix ein- stays firmly attached.
Could I repeat the modal verb for the second action, or is it better to leave it out?
You technically could repeat it by saying ... überarbeiten solle und heute einreichen solle, but it sounds very clunky. Just like in English, when two infinitives share the same modal verb and are connected by und, it is much more natural to state the modal verb only once.
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