Breakdown of Ich habe meinen Schlüssel irgendwo im Haus liegen lassen.
das Haus
the house
ich
I
haben
to have
mein
my
im
in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
der Schlüssel
the key
irgendwo
somewhere
liegen lassen
to leave behind
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Questions & Answers about Ich habe meinen Schlüssel irgendwo im Haus liegen lassen.
Why are there two infinitives (liegen lassen) at the end of the sentence, and why isn’t the past participle gelassen used?
German uses a “double‐infinitive” construction in the Perfekt with verbs like lassen that take another verb as a complement. Instead of forming the past participle gelassen, you keep both infinitives at the end.
- The finite auxiliary haben goes in second position.
- The two infinitives liegen lassen stay together at the sentence end.
Example with a different verb:
Er hat mich kommen sehen. → not Er hat mich kommen gesehen.
Why is haben the auxiliary here instead of sein?
In German, most transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object) use haben in the Perfekt. Since lassen is transitive here (you leave something), it requires haben. Sein is reserved for certain intransitive verbs of motion or change of state (e.g. gehen, sterben).
Why is it meinen Schlüssel and not mein Schlüssel?
Schlüssel is masculine (der Schlüssel). In your sentence it’s the direct object of liegen lassen, so it must be in the accusative case:
- Masculine nominative: mein Schlüssel
- Masculine accusative: meinen Schlüssel
Why is im Haus in the dative case, and what’s with the contraction im?
The preposition in can take either accusative (movement into) or dative (location). Here you’re talking about location (“in the house”), so you use dative: in dem Haus. German commonly contracts in + dem to im.
Why is the adverbial phrase irgendwo im Haus placed before the verb cluster at the end?
In a main clause German follows the “V2” rule: the finite verb (habe) is second, everything else can shuffle around the remaining slots. Adverbials (time-manner-place) and objects usually sit between the finite verb and the final verb cluster. Here the order is:
- Ich (subject)
- habe (finite verb)
- meinen Schlüssel (object)
- irgendwo im Haus (place adverbial)
- liegen lassen (verb cluster)
Could I move irgendwo im Haus or meinen Schlüssel to a different position?
Yes. German is fairly flexible once the finite verb is in second position. For example:
- Ich habe irgendwo im Haus meinen Schlüssel liegen lassen. (Emphasis on where)
- Irgendwo im Haus habe ich meinen Schlüssel liegen lassen. (Emphasis on somewhere in the house)
Just keep habe in slot 2 and the verb cluster at the end.
Why use the Perfekt tense here instead of the Präteritum?
In spoken and informal German the Perfekt is preferred for past events. The Präteritum (“Ich ließ meinen Schlüssel … liegen”) is more common in written narratives or very formal speech. In everyday conversation you’ll almost always hear the Perfekt.
What’s the difference between liegen lassen and similar verbs like vergessen, verlegen or zurücklassen?
- liegen lassen (“to leave lying”): emphasizes that the item is physically left behind.
- vergessen (“to forget”): focuses on the mental act of forgetting, not necessarily where it lies.
- verlegen (“to misplace”): you’ve put it somewhere you now can’t remember—more about losing track internally.
- zurücklassen (“to leave behind”): more formal/neutral, less about the item’s position, more about abandonment.
Example nuance:
Ich habe meinen Schlüssel im Auto liegenlassen (it’s still in the car).
Ich habe meinen Schlüssel vergessen (I forgot to take it at all).