Breakdown of Er dürfte das Fenster aus Panik eingeschlagen haben.
er
he
haben
to have
dürfen
to be allowed to, may
das Fenster
the window
die Panik
the panic
aus
out of (motive)
einschlagen
to smash
Questions & Answers about Er dürfte das Fenster aus Panik eingeschlagen haben.
Why is dürfte used here to mean "probably" instead of its usual meaning?
When used subjectively to make an assumption, the Subjunctive II form dürfte translates to "probably" or "most likely." It sits right between muss (near certainty) and könnte (possibility). This is a special subjective use of the modal verb that has nothing to do with permission.
How does the past assumption structure work with eingeschlagen haben?
To make an assumption about a past event, put the subjective modal (dürfte) in the second position and the Perfekt Infinitive at the very end. The Perfekt Infinitive is just the past participle of your main verb (eingeschlagen) followed by its helper verb in the infinitive (haben).
Why do we say aus Panik instead of wegen Panik?
The preposition aus is used when describing an internal emotion or motive that drives an action, like panic, love, or jealousy. You would use wegen (because of) for external, factual causes.
Why does the past participle eingeschlagen have the -ge- in the middle?
Because einschlagen (to smash) is a separable verb. When forming the past participle of a separable verb, the -ge- is tucked between the separable prefix (ein-) and the verb stem (-schlagen), resulting in eingeschlagen.
Learn Er dürfte das Fenster aus Panik eingeschlagen haben and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free