Ohne Lastschriftmandat darf der Stromanbieter nichts abbuchen.

Without a direct-debit mandate, the provider may not debit anything.

Breakdown of Ohne Lastschriftmandat darf der Stromanbieter nichts abbuchen.

• ohne: without
• nichts: nothing
• der Stromanbieter: the electricity provider
• dürfen: may / to be allowed to

Questions & Answers about Ohne Lastschriftmandat darf der Stromanbieter nichts abbuchen.

Why does the sentence start with Ohne Lastschriftmandat?

German often puts a prepositional phrase at the beginning for emphasis or topic-setting. Here, Ohne Lastschriftmandat means without a direct debit authorization/mandate, and placing it first highlights the condition right away.

A more neutral word order would also be possible:

Der Stromanbieter darf ohne Lastschriftmandat nichts abbuchen.

Both are correct. Starting with Ohne Lastschriftmandat gives extra emphasis to the lack of authorization.

Why is there no article before Lastschriftmandat?

In German, nouns are often used without an article when speaking in a general or abstract sense, especially after prepositions.

So:

ohne Lastschriftmandat = without a direct debit mandate

This sounds natural and general. You could also say:

ohne ein Lastschriftmandat

but that is a little more specific or concrete. In many contexts, leaving out the article is the most natural choice.

What case does ohne take?

Ohne always takes the accusative case.

That means the noun phrase after it must be accusative:

• ohne Lastschriftmandat

In this sentence, Lastschriftmandat is neuter, and because there is no article, you do not see a visible case ending on the noun itself. But grammatically, it is still accusative.

If there were an article, you would see it more clearly:

• ohne das Lastschriftmandat
• ohne ein Lastschriftmandat