Kannst du den Rollladen herunterziehen?

Because this is a yes/no question in German.

In a normal statement, the finite verb usually comes in second position:

• Du kannst den Rollladen herunterziehen.
  = You can pull down the shutter.

In a yes/no question, the finite verb moves to first position:

• Kannst du den Rollladen herunterziehen?

So the pattern is:

• Verb + subject + rest of sentence

This is very similar to English Can you ...?

Because Rollladen is the direct object of the verb, so it is in the accusative case.

The noun Rollladen is masculine:

• nominative: der Rollladen
• accusative: den Rollladen

Here, the person is doing something to the shutter, so German uses the accusative:

• Kannst du den Rollladen herunterziehen?

A useful way to think about it:

• der Rollladen = the shutter as the subject
• den Rollladen = the shutter as the thing affected by the action

Rollladen usually means a rolling shutter or roller shutter, often the solid type on the outside of a window.

It is not always the same as an indoor fabric blind or curtain. In many German-speaking places, a Rollladen is the hard shutter that can be lowered over the window.

So depending on context, English translations might include:

• roller shutter
• shutter
• sometimes blind

But roller shutter is often the most precise.

Because herunterziehen is a separable verb.

The base verb is:

• herunterziehen = to pull down

In German, separable verbs behave differently depending on the sentence structure.

With a modal verb

When used with a modal like können, the main verb stays as a full infinitive at the end:

• Kannst du den Rollladen herunterziehen?

Without a modal verb

In a normal main clause, it splits:

• Du ziehst den Rollladen herunter.

So:

• with modal: herunterziehen stays together
• without modal: zieht ... herunter / zieh ... herunter

Because the sentence contains the modal verb kannst.

German sentence structure often puts the main infinitive at the end when a modal verb is present:

• Kannst du ... herunterziehen?
• Ich will ... machen.
• Wir müssen ... gehen.

So in this sentence:

• kannst = the conjugated modal verb
• herunterziehen = the main verb in infinitive form, placed at the end

This is one of the most common German word order patterns.

Yes. Runterziehen is very common in everyday spoken German.

So these are both possible:

• Kannst du den Rollladen herunterziehen?
• Kannst du den Rollladen runterziehen?

The difference is mainly one of style:

• herunterziehen = a bit more neutral or standard
• runterziehen = more colloquial, more everyday speech

Learners should understand both.

Grammatically, it asks about ability: Can you ...?

But in real usage, it often functions as a perfectly normal informal request, just like English:

• Can you pull down the shutter?

So depending on context, it can mean:

• Are you able to do it?
• Please do it

Usually the situation makes it clear.

If you want to be more polite or formal, German often uses:

• Können Sie den Rollladen herunterziehen?

You could also make it softer with words like:

• Kannst du bitte den Rollladen herunterziehen?

Du is the informal word for you, used with:

• friends
• family
• children
• people you know well

So:

• Kannst du den Rollladen herunterziehen?

If you are speaking to someone more formally, use Sie:

• Können Sie den Rollladen herunterziehen?

Notice that the verb also changes:

• du kannst
• Sie können

This is a very important distinction in German.

As a statement, it would be:

• Du kannst den Rollladen herunterziehen.

That means something like:

• You can pull down the shutter.

And if you want a statement without the modal, using the separable verb in a normal present-tense clause:

• Du ziehst den Rollladen herunter. = You are pulling the shutter down / You pull the shutter down.

This is a useful comparison because it shows both:

• question word order
• separable verb behavior

It looks strange because it is a compound word:

• Roll
  • Laden → Rollladen

So the spelling ends up with three l's.

In pronunciation, you do not say three separate l sounds. You basically pronounce it as one clear l sound at the boundary between the two parts.

A rough English-style guide would be something like:

• ROLL-lah-den

The stress is usually on the first part:

• ROLL-lah-den

The spelling may look intimidating, but it is normal in German compounds.

Sometimes, yes, depending on context.

If you are talking about what someone wants done to the window covering, English may naturally say:

• Can you close the shutter?
• Can you pull the shutter down?

German uses the more literal action verb herunterziehen here, meaning pull down. English sometimes prefers the result-focused verb close.

So the German wording emphasizes the physical action, while English may choose either:

• the action
• or the result

Both can be natural translations, depending on the situation.