In German, we come across ohne and similar connectors such as ohne…dass and ohne…zu. There are differences in usage between them. In today's article we will learn about them together.

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1. Ohne

• Ohne is a preposition meaning "without", and it can be followed by a noun, a noun phrase, or a personal pronoun.

• Ohne takes the Akkusativ and forms a prepositional phrase.

Ohne meine Brille kann ich nicht sehen.

(I cannot see without my glasses.)

Wir wollen ohne dich nicht kommen.

(We don't want to come without you.)

• When a noun referring to a thing is not accompanied by a possessive pronoun, the article can be omitted.

Er ging ohne Abschied ins Ausland.

(He went abroad without saying goodbye.)

***Note: Ohne + Akkusativ can stand in position one of the sentence or sit within the sentence according to the TEKAMOLO rule

Er ging nach dem Studium wegen eines Streits mit seinen Eltern ohne Abschied ins Ausland.

= Ohne Abschied ging er nach dem Studium wegen eines Streits mit seinen Eltern ins Ausland.

(After graduating, he went abroad without saying goodbye because of an argument with his parents.)

T: nach dem Studium

K: wegen eines Streits mit seinen Eltern

M: ohne Abschied

L: ins Ausland

2. Ohne…dass and ohne…zu

• Both mean "without (doing something)"

• The two parts of the sentence are separated by a comma

ohne…dass	ohne…zu
Connects 2 clauses with the same or different subjects Used with a Nebensatz → the verb is at the end of the clause The two clauses can be swapped in position	Connects two clauses with the same subject → the subordinate clause drops its subject and keeps only the main verb Used with zu + Infinitiv (the verb in its infinitive form) The two clauses cannot be swapped
Er ging an uns vorbei, ohne dass wir ihn bemerkt haben. = Ohne dass wir ihn bemerkt haben, ging er an uns vorbei. (He walked past us without us noticing him.) → Subject 1: er; Subject 2: wir → The structure ohne…dass + Nebensatz is used	Ich mache Sport, ohne abzunehmen. (I do sports without losing weight.) → Both clauses have the same subject: ich → The structure ohne…zu + Infinitiv is used