Questions & Answers about Ohne Zirkel kann sie die Aufgabe nicht machen.
Why is ohne at the beginning of the sentence?
Because ohne Zirkel is a prepositional phrase, and German often puts this kind of phrase first for emphasis or style.
The normal basic order would also be:
Sie kann die Aufgabe ohne Zirkel nicht machen.
When ohne Zirkel is moved to the front, the sentence still follows the German verb-second rule, so kann must come immediately after it:
- Ohne Zirkel
- kann
- sie
- ...
- sie
- kann
So the fronted phrase is not unusual; it just gives a little more focus to the idea of without a compass.
Why is kann in the second position?
German main clauses usually follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in the second position.
In this sentence, the first position is taken by Ohne Zirkel, so the finite verb kann has to come next:
- Ohne Zirkel = position 1
- kann = position 2
- sie = then the subject comes after that
This is very common in German. The subject does not always come first.
Why is machen at the end?