German Grammar Explained /
Position of "nicht"
In German, we use nicht to negate a statement. But care should be taken regarding where this negation word should be placed within a sentence.
It's actually quite easy:
Nicht always goes immediately in front of what should be negated unless its purpose is to negate the whole sentence.
So what's the difference between negating a whole sentence (Satznegation) and negating just a word (Sondernegation) and how can you tell?
Negating a whole sentence means negating the main verb within the sentence, the conjugated verb. When this happens, nicht goes right at the very end.
Der Zug kommt
The train is not coming | nicht. |
Das verstehe ich
I don't understand | nicht. |
Er mag Züge
He does not like trains | nicht. |
BUT!
Nicht goes in front of:
- A second verb, a participle or a part of a separable verb.
Der Zug kann
The train can | nicht
not | kommen. (Modal verb/ second verb)
come. |
Der Zug ist
The train did | nicht
not | gekommen. (Participle)
come. |
Der Zug kommt
The train does | nicht
not | an. (Part of a separable verb)
arrive. |
- Adjectives and adverbs
Der Zug ist
The train is | nicht
not | pünktlich. (Adjective)
punctual. |
Er mag Züge
He does not like trains | nicht | gern. (Adverb)
much. |
- Prepositions and local information
Er wartet
He does not wait | nicht | auf den Zug. (Preposition)
for the train. |
Der Chef ist heute
The boss is | nicht
not | hier. (Local information)
here. |
If you want to deny only a part of the sentence, then nicht should go immediately before the bit that you want to deny.
You often get this type of negation when you're about to introduce an alternative option using sondern (but / rather) as an alternative to what you're negating.
Ich habe
I did | nicht
not | gestern angerufen, sondern heute.
call yesterday, but rather today. |
Sie ist
She's | nicht
not | bei ihren Freunden, sondern bei ihrer Familie.
with her friends, but rather with her family |
Wir treffen uns
Let's not meet on the train | nicht | im Zug, sondern vor dem Zug.
but rather in front of it. |
That's it! Das ist nicht so schwer, oder? :)