Breakdown of Das Gebäude hätte wegen der Fans abgesperrt werden sollen.
haben
to have
sollen
should / ought to
das Gebäude
the building
der Fan
the fan
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
wegen
because of
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
absperren
to cordon off
Questions & Answers about Das Gebäude hätte wegen der Fans abgesperrt werden sollen.
Why is the conjugated verb hätte instead of wäre, given that this is a passive sentence?
When building the perfect or past perfect tense with a modal verb (here: sollen), the auxiliary is always haben. Therefore, even though the sentence is passive, the modal verb forces us to use hätte (the Konjunktiv II form of haben) in position 2.
Why are there three verbs at the end of the sentence, and why are they in the order abgesperrt werden sollen?
This is the standard word order for a modal passive in the past. The sequence at the end of the main clause is always: the action's Past Participle (abgesperrt) + the passive infinitive (werden) + the modal infinitive (sollen).
Why do we use the infinitive sollen at the very end instead of its past participle gesollt?
This is the "double infinitive" rule (Ersatzinfinitiv). Whenever a modal verb is used in a perfect tense alongside another verb, it drops its past participle (gesollt) and uses its infinitive form (sollen) instead.
Why is it der Fans after wegen if Fan is a masculine noun?
wegen (because of) is a preposition that requires the genitive case in standard German. Since we are talking about multiple fans, der Fans is the genitive plural form. In casual spoken German, you might also hear the dative (wegen den Fans), but the genitive is the standard you should learn for B2.
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