Breakdown of Wer das Experiment macht, muss die Daten aufzeichnen.
machen
to make, to do
wer
who
müssen
to have to, must
das Experiment
the experiment
die Daten
the data
aufzeichnen
to record (data, log)
Questions & Answers about Wer das Experiment macht, muss die Daten aufzeichnen.
Why does the sentence start with Wer, and where is the subject of the second half?
Wer here means "whoever". The entire first clause (Wer das Experiment macht) acts as the subject for the main clause. Because this whole subordinate clause occupies the first position of the overall sentence, the main clause must start immediately with the verb muss to satisfy the standard V2 (verb-second) rule.
Can I put a der before muss to make it "..., der muss..."?
Yes! It is very common in German to use a demonstrative pronoun to refer back to the Wer clause. You could say: "Wer das Experiment macht, der muss die Daten aufzeichnen." This emphasizes the subject and is very natural in spoken German, though leaving it out (as in our sentence) is perfectly correct and slightly more formal.
aufzeichnen is a separable verb. Why isn't the auf separated here?
Because of the modal verb muss. Modal verbs push the main verb to the very end of the clause in its full infinitive form. Since it is acting as an infinitive rather than a conjugated verb, the prefix auf- stays firmly attached to -zeichnen.
If I wanted to say "must record the data with this" (pointing to a specific tablet or device), how would I use a hier- compound?
You would use hiermit. You could insert it after the modal verb: "Wer das Experiment macht, muss hiermit die Daten aufzeichnen." You use proximate pronominal adverbs like hiermit (with this) or hierdurch (through this) when pointing to something physically present or immediately relevant in the context.
Learn Wer das Experiment macht, muss die Daten aufzeichnen 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