Sentence Structure

Question 1

x

Answer 1

In German sentence structure, the conjugated verb must ALWAYS go second in the sentence and the subject can either go in the first place or the third place.

Question 2

Nicht

Answer 2

Use “nicht” in the following five situations:

Negating a noun that has a definite article  like "der Raum" (the room) in "Der Architekt mag den Raum nicht" (the architect does not like the room).

Negating a noun that has a possessive pronoun like “sein Glas” (his glass) in “Der Autor sucht sein Glas nicht.” (the writer is not looking for his glass).

Negating the verb:
“Sie haben nicht” (they/you do not have).

Negating an adverb or adverbial phrase.
For instance, “Mein Mann isst nicht immer” (my husband does not eat at all times).

Negating an adjective that is used with “sein” (to be):
“Du bist nicht hungrig” (you are not hungry).

Question 3

Position of Nicht

Answer 3

The German “nicht” will precede adjectives and adverbs
“Das Frühstück ist nicht schlecht” (the breakfast is not bad) and “Das Hemd ist nicht ganz blau” (the shirt is not entirely blue).

For verbs, “nicht” can either precede or follow the verb, depending the type of verb.
Typically, “nicht” comes after conjugated verbs
as in “Die Maus isst nicht” (the mouse does not eat).
In conversational German, the perfect (“Ich habe gegessen” = “I have eaten”) is often used to express simple past occurrences (“I ate”). If such statements are negated, “nicht” will come before the participle at the end of the sentence: “Ich habe nicht gegessen” (I did not eat/I have not eaten).

Finally, “nicht” also tends to come at the end of sentences (after direct objects like “mir” = “me,”” or after yes/no questions if there is just one conjugated verb). For example, “Die Lehrerin hilft mir nicht” (The teacher does not help me) and “Hat er den Ball nicht?” (Does he not have the ball?)

Question 4

Kein

Answer 4

Simply put, “kein” is composed of “k + ein” and placed where the indefinite article would be in a sentence.
For instance, look at the positive and negative statement about each noun:
“ein Mann” (a man) versus “kein Mann” (not a/not one man), and “eine Frau” versus “keine Frau.”

“Kein” is also used for negating nouns that have no article: “Man hat Brot” (one has bread) versus “Man hat kein Brot” (one has no bread).

Question 5

Nicht versus Nichts

Answer 5

“Nicht” is an adverb and is useful for negations. On the other hand, “nichts” (nothing/anything) is a pronoun and its meaning is different from that of “nicht.” Using “nicht” simply negates a fact, and is less overarching than “nichts.” For example, “Der Schüler lernt nicht” (the student does not learn) is less extreme than “Der Schüler lernt nichts” (the student does not learn anything).

The word “nichts” can also be a noun if capitalized (“das Nichts” = nothingness).