Questions & Answers about Ohne den Dosenöffner kann ich die Dose nicht öffnen.
Why is it den Dosenöffner after ohne?
Because ohne always takes the accusative case in German.
- der Dosenöffner = nominative
- den Dosenöffner = accusative
So after ohne, you need den:
- ohne den Dosenöffner
This is similar to learning that some English expressions always require a certain structure, except in German it affects the article form.
Why is it die Dose and not den Dose or der Dose?
Because Dose is a feminine noun: die Dose.
In this sentence, die Dose is the direct object of öffnen, so it is in the accusative case. But for many feminine nouns, the article stays die in both nominative and accusative:
- nominative: die Dose
- accusative: die Dose
So even though the case changes, the form does not change here.
Why does the sentence say kann ich instead of ich kann?