When to use it
Use it at a pharmacy (Apotheke) to ask whether a medicine is sold without a doctor's prescription.
The sentence in English: “Can I buy medicine without a prescription?”
"Can I buy medicine without a prescription?" puts "can" before "I" to ask. "Buy" follows without "to", and "medicine" is used without an article.
- Can
- auxiliary verbcan · tense: present · modal verb of ability or permission; it opens the question
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- buy
- verbbuy · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · main verb after "can"
- medicine
- noununcountable noun here, used in a general sense
- without
- prepositionpreposition
- a
- determinerindefinite article
- prescription
- nounnoun; a doctor's written order for medicine
The sentence in German: “Kann ich Medikamente ohne Rezept kaufen?”
"Kann ich Medikamente ohne Rezept kaufen?" also starts with the modal verb, "kann", followed by "ich". The plural "Medikamente" is used for medicine in general, and the infinitive "kaufen" goes to the end of the sentence.
- Kann
- auxiliary verbkönnen · tense: present · mood: indicative · person: first · number: singular · modal verb "can"; it opens the question
- ich
- pronoun"I", written with a small letter
- Medikamente
- nounneuter plural noun: "medicines"
- ohne
- prepositionpreposition: "without"
- Rezept
- nounneuter noun: "prescription"; no article after "ohne" here
- kaufen
- verbkaufen · form: infinitive · "to buy"; the infinitive goes to the end
What changes from one language to the other: English × German
English puts "buy" right after "can I"; German moves "kaufen" to the end. German uses the plural "Medikamente" where English uses the uncountable "medicine". In German, "ich" has a small letter, unlike the English "I".
Example conversation
— Kann ich dieses Medikament ohne Rezept kaufen?
— Can I buy this medicine without a prescription?
— Ja, das ist rezeptfrei.
— Yes, that one doesn't need a prescription.