ouni datt / amplaz datt

Ouni Datt and Amplaz Datt

Level 5

Hie war fort, ouni datt een et gemierkt huet. (He was gone without anyone noticing.) Ouni datt and amplaz datt start a clause with its own subject; the verb goes to the end.

How It Works

1. Why datt?
A ze infinitive has no subject of its own. It always refers back to the subject of the main clause:

  • Hien ass gaangen, ouni Äddi ze soen. (He left without saying goodbye.) He is the one who did not say goodbye.

When someone else does the second action, name that person in a datt clause:

  • Hie war fort, ouni datt een et gemierkt huet. (He was gone without anyone noticing.)
  • Si huet de Bréif selwer geschriwwen, amplaz datt hire Mann et gemaach huet. (She wrote the letter herself instead of her husband doing it.)

2. Word order
These are subordinate clauses, so the verb goes to the end (The Verb at the End of Subordinate Clauses). If the clause comes first, the main verb follows right after the comma:

  • Amplaz datt hien eis hëlleft, sëtzt en do d'Daumen ze dréien. (Instead of helping us, he sits there twiddling his thumbs.)

3. Same subject with datt
Datt is also possible when both actions have the same subject, as in the sentence above. With the same subject, ze is simply the more common choice. With different subjects, datt is the only choice.

4. Always with datt
As conjunctions, ouni and amplaz need either datt or a ze infinitive. They cannot introduce a clause on their own.

Examples (6)

  1. Hie war fort, ouni datt een et gemierkt huet.

    He was gone without anyone noticing.

    The second action has its own subject, een.

  2. Hie riet stänneg, ouni datt en eppes gefrot gëtt.

    He talks constantly without anyone asking him anything.

    Literally: without him being asked anything.

  3. Ech kann näischt ënnerhuelen, ouni datt hie mir drariet!

    I can't do anything without him interfering!

  4. D'Ënnerbewosstsinn huet en Afloss op eist Handelen, ouni datt mer et an Uecht huelen.

    The subconscious influences our actions without our noticing it.

  5. Amplaz datt hien eis hëlleft, sëtzt en do d'Daumen ze dréien.

    Instead of helping us, he sits there twiddling his thumbs.

    When the clause comes first, the main verb sëtzt follows right after the comma.

  6. Si huet de Bréif selwer geschriwwen, amplaz datt hire Mann et gemaach huet.

    She wrote the letter herself instead of her husband doing it.

Common Mistakes

  • Using ze when the second action has a different subject.

    Hie war fort, ouni een et ze mierken.
    Hie war fort, ouni datt een et gemierkt huet.

    A ze infinitive cannot have its own subject. When someone else does the action, use ouni datt with a full clause.

  • Leaving the verb in second place in the datt clause.

    Hie war fort, ouni datt een huet et gemierkt.
    Hie war fort, ouni datt een et gemierkt huet.

    Ouni datt starts a subordinate clause, so the conjugated verb goes to the very end.

  • Leaving out datt.

    Amplaz hien eis hëlleft, sëtzt en do d'Daumen ze dréien.
    Amplaz datt hien eis hëlleft, sëtzt en do d'Daumen ze dréien.

    Amplaz and ouni need datt before a clause with a subject and a conjugated verb.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ouni datt / amplaz dattLevel 5Ouni Datt and Amplaz Datt

Learn This First

Before Ouni datt and Amplaz datt, learn Instead of Doing: Amplaz ... ze and So That: Fir datt.

Words in This Pattern

ouniamplaz