Breakdown of Sie hätte den Rhythmus fehlerfrei beherrscht.
sie
she
haben
to have
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
fehlerfrei
flawless
der Rhythmus
the rhythm
beherrschen
to master
Questions & Answers about Sie hätte den Rhythmus fehlerfrei beherrscht.
Why is it hätte ... beherrscht and not würde ... beherrschen?
hätte beherrscht is the past tense of the subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II), meaning "would have mastered." If you used würde beherrschen, it would mean "would master" (present or future). To express hypothetical situations in the past, you always use hätte or wäre plus the past participle.
Why doesn't the past participle beherrscht start with ge-?
The infinitive of the verb is beherrschen (to master or control). Verbs that start with an inseparable prefix—such as be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ver-, or zer-—never take the ge- prefix in their past participle form.
How does the suffix -frei work in the word fehlerfrei?
The suffix -frei is attached to nouns to mean "free of" or "without" that thing. Here, der Fehler (the mistake) + frei (free) becomes fehlerfrei (flawless or without mistakes). It is a very common way to build adjectives in German, working much like the English suffix "-less".
Why is it den Rhythmus instead of der Rhythmus?
The noun is masculine (der Rhythmus). Because it is the direct object of the verb beherrschen (it is the thing being mastered), it must take the accusative case, which changes the article from der to den.
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