"Cheese is not a vegetable."
Translation:Ser to nie warzywo.
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I think it has to be "Ser nie jest warzywem" because after być it has to be instrumental regardless of negation.
"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'.
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.
Thanks. But actually my question was not why is it wrong, i get it, in the case of to, nie comes after to. My question was in general what are the rules that determine where negations are places inside a polish sentence. Because for verbs like być or others it comes before the verb. Not after. Nie wiem, nie jest, nie rozumiełam...
"Nie" is usually before a verb, only in some specific sentences when some other word is negated, it goes before that word. "TO" is not a verb, there is a hidden "jest", behind it so imagine it as to nie (jest).
Ah i see, i will try and find a list of those sentences. Have a lingot.
About to though, i know it should be like that but in sentences like "tygrys to zwierzę" it seems like there is no place for a hidden jest .. it can't be "a tiger it is an animal", can it?
there is always place for hidden "jest" after "to" in Polish. But in such sentences "to/to jest" translate to "is".
It is like "I am writing"- you don't translate "am" to Polish.
And there is no list of sentences with "misplaced "nie" . Other than "to", you do net need to use them. they are for contrasting things.
kupiłem nie dom, ale mieszkanie= I bought not a house but a flat.
Nie kupiłem domu, kupiłem mieszkanie- I did not buy a house, I bought a flat.
It's either ser to nie warzywo (nominative) or ser nie jest warzywem (instrumental)
This wonderful post should explain everything.
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I must have read that link about twenty times in the last month! Hopefully it will sink in one day! Sigh!
Because this doesn't make any sense grammatically. In such a sentence, "nie" is definitely always put after "to".
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?
Only accusative turns into genitive when negated, but Ser to warzywo uses nominative.
God I hate this lesson. Ill just go trhough it as fast as i can and never repeat it again.
"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
So if i get this correct = for "is not" sentences, it appears to be "Nie jest" (not is) when jest is used but for "to" it is "to nie" the normal (is not) English is used to
For a sentence built as "[noun] is [noun]", you can either translate it as "[Nominative] to [Nominative]" (Cheese is a vegetable = Ser to warzywo) or "[Nominative] jest [Instrumental]" (Cheese is a vegetable = Ser jest warzywem).
When you negate them, "nie" goes after "to" in the first construction (Ser to nie warzywo) and before "jest" in the second construction (Ser nie jest warzywem).
"warzywo" is the Nominative form (the basic one), "warzywem" is Instrumental.