Ohne seine Brille sieht er den dichten Nebel nur als graue Wand.

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Breakdown of Ohne seine Brille sieht er den dichten Nebel nur als graue Wand.

• sehen: to see
• sein: his
• nur: only

Questions & Answers about Ohne seine Brille sieht er den dichten Nebel nur als graue Wand.

Why is the verb sieht placed before the subject er?

German main clauses follow the “verb‑second” (V2) rule. Whatever you put in first position (here Ohne seine Brille) is counted as element 1, so the finite verb must come in position 2. The subject er then follows in position 3.

Why is den dichten Nebel in the accusative case?

The verb sehen takes a direct object, which in German is in the accusative case. Nebel is masculine, so its definite article and adjective both show the masculine accusative form: den (article) and dichten (weak adjective ending –en).

Why is the adjective dichten ending in -en instead of -er or -e?

After a definite article like den, adjectives follow the weak declension pattern, which uses -en in all gender/case combinations except nominative singular. Hence den dichten Nebel.

Why do we use als in als graue Wand instead of wie?