Ohne genaue Planung gelingt das Projekt nicht.

Without precise planning, the project does not succeed.

Breakdown of Ohne genaue Planung gelingt das Projekt nicht.

• nicht: not
• das Projekt: the project
• ohne: without
• die Planung: the planning

Questions & Answers about Ohne genaue Planung gelingt das Projekt nicht.

Why is the phrase Ohne genaue Planung placed at the beginning of the sentence, and what effect does that have on word order?

German main clauses follow the verb-second rule. Whatever you put in the first position (here the adverbial prepositional phrase Ohne genaue Planung) occupies slot 1. The finite verb gelingt must then appear in slot 2. Everything else (subject, objects, adverbials) follows. So the order becomes:

1. Ohne genaue Planung (fronted element)
2. gelingt (finite verb)
3. das Projekt (subject)
4. nicht (negation at the end)

Why is there no article before genaue Planung, and which case is Planung here?

The preposition ohne always takes the accusative case. In general, you can drop the article to speak in a general or abstract sense:
• Ohne genaue Planung = “Without precise planning (in general)…”
If you wanted to refer to one specific plan, you could say Ohne eine genaue Planung (with eine in accusative).

Why does the adjective genaue take an -e ending instead of -er or -en?