Breakdown of Sollten sie aufbrechen, tun sie es guten Gewissens.
es
it
gut
good / well
sie
they
tun
to do
sollen
should / ought to
das Gewissen
the conscience
aufbrechen
to set out (depart)
Questions & Answers about Sollten sie aufbrechen, tun sie es guten Gewissens.
Why is guten Gewissens in the genitive case instead of using a preposition like mit?
This is an adverbial genitive of manner. Instead of using a prepositional phrase like mit einem guten Gewissen (with a good conscience), German often uses the bare genitive case to describe how an action is performed. It is a highly idiomatic, fixed expression meaning 'with a clear conscience.'
Why does the sentence start with the verb Sollten? Where is the word for 'if'?
Just like in English ('Should they set out...'), German can drop the word wenn (if) to form a conditional clause. When wenn is dropped, the conjugated verb (Sollten) moves to the very first position of the sentence.
In the second half, why does the verb tun come right after the comma?
The entire first clause (Sollten sie aufbrechen) occupies the first position of the main sentence. Because German strictly requires the main verb in the second position, the verb tun must come immediately after the comma, pushing the subject sie to the third position.
The first half uses the hypothetical Konjunktiv II (Sollten), so why does the second half use the normal present tense (tun)?
Using sollten in a conditional clause often just means 'if by chance' or 'should they' rather than setting up a purely hypothetical or impossible scenario. Because the speaker considers the outcome a factual certainty if that condition is met, they use the normal indicative present tense (tun) for the result.
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