Breakdown of Der Wissenschaftler kann die Verschwörung widerlegen, ohne dass er das Forum besucht.
er
he
besuchen
to visit
können
can / to be able to
der Wissenschaftler
the scientist
ohne dass
without (+ subordinate clause)
die Verschwörung
the conspiracy
widerlegen
to refute
das Forum
the forum
Questions & Answers about Der Wissenschaftler kann die Verschwörung widerlegen, ohne dass er das Forum besucht.
The current lesson is about amplifying negation. How would I say "...without visiting the forum at all"?
To add "at all" to an ohne dass clause, you use überhaupt or gar without the nicht, because ohne already provides the negation. You would say ohne dass er das Forum überhaupt besucht. Adding nicht here would create a double negative!
Since the subject (der Wissenschaftler) is the same in both clauses, shouldn't this be an ohne ... zu infinitive clause?
Yes, using ohne das Forum zu besuchen is generally preferred and sounds more elegant when the subject is the same in both halves of the sentence. However, using ohne dass er das Forum besucht is still grammatically correct and very common in everyday spoken German.
Is widerlegen related to wieder (again)?
They sound identical but use different prefixes. wieder- means "again", while wider- means "against" or "contrary to" (similar to "withstand" in English). So widerlegen literally means to lay evidence against something, which gives us "to refute". Also, wider- is an inseparable prefix here, so the past participle is widerlegt, not widergelegt.
Why does the verb besucht go at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase ohne dass (without) acts as a subordinating conjunction. Just like dass or weil, it forces the conjugated verb in its clause (besucht) to the very end.
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