Der Apotheker erklärt mir, wie ich die Tablette nehmen soll.

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Breakdown of Der Apotheker erklärt mir, wie ich die Tablette nehmen soll.

• mir: me
• sollen: should
• erklären: to explain
• nehmen: to take
• wie: how
• der Apotheker: the pharmacist
• die Tablette: the pill

Questions & Answers about Der Apotheker erklärt mir, wie ich die Tablette nehmen soll.

Why is the pronoun mir used here instead of mich?

The verb erklären takes the person you explain to in the dative case (indirect object). In German you say jemandem etwas erklären, so mir (dative of ich) is correct. Mich would be the accusative form and doesn’t fit this construction.

What role does wie play in this sentence, and why is there a comma before it?

Here wie (how) introduces an indirect question—a subordinate clause explaining the manner of taking the pill. In German, any subordinate clause introduced by a conjunction like wie must be set off from the main clause by a comma.

Why does the modal verb soll come at the end of the clause, and why is the order nehmen soll instead of soll nehmen?

In German subordinate clauses the finite verb goes to the very end. When you have a modal plus an infinitive, the infinitive (nehmen) precedes the finite modal (soll), giving nehmen soll.

Is soll here the subjunctive (Konjunktiv I) or the indicative form, and how can you tell?

Grammatically this is reported speech, which normally uses Konjunktiv I. For sollen, the 3rd-person Konjunktiv I form er soll is identical to the indicative. You recognize it as reported speech from context, not from the form itself.

Why is die Tablette in the accusative case?

Inside the subordinate clause, die Tablette is the direct object of nehmen, so it takes the accusative. For feminine nouns the nominative and accusative article are both die.

Could you use einnehmen instead of nehmen, and what’s the difference?

Yes. Einnehmen is a separable-prefix verb often used for medicine and means “to take in” (a pill, etc.). Both are correct here, but einnehmen is more specific to medication. Word-order and comma rules remain the same:
Der Apotheker erklärt mir, wie ich die Tablette einnehmen soll.

How would you change the sentence if the pharmacist were female?

Use the feminine noun Apothekerin and its article die. The sentence becomes:
Die Apothekerin erklärt mir, wie ich die Tablette nehmen soll.