Breakdown of Die Mutter hat das Kind ohne Aufsicht spielen lassen.
das Kind
the child
spielen
to play
haben
to have
die Mutter
the mother
ohne
without
lassen
to let, to leave (something)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
die Aufsicht
the supervision
Questions & Answers about Die Mutter hat das Kind ohne Aufsicht spielen lassen.
Why is it spielen lassen at the end instead of spielen gelassen?
This sentence is in the Perfekt tense, but because lassen is used alongside another verb (spielen), it uses the double infinitive rule. When non-modal verbs like lassen, sehen, hören, and helfen accompany another infinitive, they drop their standard past participle (like gelassen) and use their infinitive form instead.
In a double infinitive, how do I know which verb goes at the absolute end?
The modifying verb (here, lassen) always goes after the main action verb (spielen). A helpful rule of thumb: the verb that would be conjugated in a simple present tense sentence (Die Mutter lässt...) is the one that gets pushed to the very end of the double infinitive cluster.
Why is there no article after ohne in ohne Aufsicht?
The preposition ohne always takes the accusative case, but just like in English, abstract nouns representing concepts (like supervision, fear, or hope) often do not take an article. If you wanted to emphasize 'without any supervision' you could say ohne jegliche Aufsicht, which clearly shows the accusative ending.
Could I use erlauben (to allow) instead of lassen to mean the same thing?
You could, but it changes the sentence structure entirely. While lassen works with a simple infinitive and an accusative object (das Kind), erlauben requires a dative object and an infinitive clause with zu. You would have to say: Die Mutter hat dem Kind erlaubt, ohne Aufsicht zu spielen.
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