Seine Haltung ist die eines Mannes, der niemandem Rechenschaft abzulegen hat.
Shouldn't it be "niemanden"? And why abzulegen in here? Shouldn't it be the perfect?
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Sign up to join this communitySeine Haltung ist die eines Mannes, der niemandem Rechenschaft abzulegen hat.
Shouldn't it be "niemanden"? And why abzulegen in here? Shouldn't it be the perfect?
It should be: "Seine Haltung ist die eines Mannes, ..." Because "Haltung" is female and die refers to it. "Niemandem" is correct, because you ask "wem gegenüber Rechenschaft ablegen?".
In german the dative case can be used for multiple purposes. Here it marks the beneficiary or aggrieved party. (Who is the person, that should receive the accountability?) And here nobody (niemand) has the right to demand accountability, i.e. nobody is the beneficiary, and so nobody (niemand) has to stand in dative case:
wrong (accusative case): Jemand, der
niemandenRechenschaft abzulegen hat.
correct (dative case): Jemand, der niemandem Rechenschaft abzulegen hat.
This is an absolutely correct sentence:
Seine Haltung ist die eines Mannes, der niemandem Rechenschaft abgelegt hat.
His attitude is that of a man who has not accounted to anyone.
So, this man behaves, like he had not accounted to anyone in the past. But it is unclear, if it should have done it. Maybe he is obliged to account, but he just didn't fulfill his duty.
Compare with this sentence:
Seine Haltung ist die eines Mannes, der niemandem Rechenschaft abzulegen hat.
His attitude is that of a man who don't have not account to anyone.
Here he behaves like a man who is his own boss, i.e. like a man, why is not obliged to tell anybody what he is doing.