Breakdown of Der Mitarbeiter sagt, der Lieferant, dessen Unterlagen fehlen, solle sie einreichen.
sie
they
sagen
to say
sollen
should / ought to
fehlen
to be missing
der Mitarbeiter
the employee (male)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
dessen
whose (m/n)
der Lieferant
the supplier
die Unterlagen
the documents
einreichen
to submit
Questions & Answers about Der Mitarbeiter sagt, der Lieferant, dessen Unterlagen fehlen, solle sie einreichen.
Why is solle used here instead of soll or sollte?
solle is the Konjunktiv I form of sollen. In German, indirect commands or requests are often reported using sollen in Konjunktiv I. If we quoted the employee directly, they would have used an imperative command (e.g., "Reichen Sie die Unterlagen ein!"). When reporting this command indirectly, we use solle.
Why isn't the conjugated verb solle at the very end of the reported speech clause?
Because the conjunction dass (that) was left out. If we used dass, the verb would be kicked to the end: "...sagt, dass der Lieferant sie einreichen solle." In a dass-less indirect speech clause, the word order acts like a regular main clause. The subject is der Lieferant (interrupted by a relative clause describing him), and the verb solle takes the standard second position.
How does the grammar of dessen Unterlagen work?
dessen is a genitive relative pronoun meaning "whose". It refers back to the masculine noun der Lieferant. It is placed directly before Unterlagen (documents) to express possession ("whose documents"). If the supplier had been a feminine noun (like die Lieferantin), this would change to deren Unterlagen.
What does the pronoun sie refer to in solle sie einreichen?
It refers to die Unterlagen (the documents). Even though the documents were just mentioned inside the relative clause, the pronoun sie accurately points back to them so you don't have to repeat the noun.
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