"Cheese is not a vegetable."

Translation: Ser to nie warzywo.

[SpiralStat]

My life has been a lie.

[Petra435935]

Ha, see I knew it was a fruit.

[Horacio938126]

Why "ser to nie warzywo" is wrong?

[annette556251]

why is this wrong? "Ser nie jest warzywo"

[RonanRober1]

I think it has to be "Ser nie jest warzywem" because after być it has to be instrumental regardless of negation.

[pacecarotepatate]

It says nie to is wrong. What is the rule for positioning negations?

[Jellei]

"nie to" will only work as "nie, to..." as "no, it's..."

What you're searching for is "to nie". or "nie jest". First negates the noun phrase (vegetable), the second negates 'being'.

[Alden403207]

So would "ser to nie warzywo" be "cheese is no vegetable" and "ser nie jest warzywem" be "cheese is not a vegetable"? I get when to apply the endings, but I'm having trouble seeing the difference in meaning.

[alik1989]

I don't think there is one. It's more of a stylistic choice.

[Lolsperols]

Why warzywem??

[alik1989]

It's either ser to nie warzywo (nominative) or ser nie jest warzywem (instrumental)

This wonderful post should explain everything.

[TheScholar2361]

I give up with all these different constant endings to words..

[Will127979]

Why can this not be ser nie to warzywo?

[Jellei]

Because this doesn't make any sense grammatically. In such a sentence, "nie" is definitely always put after "to".

[L-Rell]

I'm sure this must have been covered eons ago, but just to clarify - it appears the genitive is not used with "to nie", even though it is a negation, is that correct?

[alik1989]

Only accusative turns into genitive when negated, but Ser to warzywo uses nominative.

[L-Rell]

Well, that makes all the sense in the world. Thank you!

[Trez0s]

God I hate this lesson. Ill just go trhough it as fast as i can and never repeat it again.

[Alexa741920]

C h e e s e is NOT a vegetable

[HellRaider]

"Ser to nie jest warzywo" should be accepted

[Jellei]

OK, added.

[PhilipSull6]

What is the difference between "warzywo" and "warzywem"?

[Jellei]

"warzywo" is the basic, Nominative form, used mostly for the subject of the sentence.

"warzywem" is the Instrumental form, used in sentences like this one, after "jest".

Note that there are two possibilities here: "Ser to nie warzywo" ("to" + Nominative) and "Ser nie jest warzywem" ("jest" + Instrumental).

More information here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/16373167

[PhilipSull6]

Thank you!