"A nő nincs otthon."
Translation:The woman is not at home.
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"Nincs" used when we negate "van" and the emphasis is on the denial of the existence. "Nem (...) van" is used to deny something else, location for instance, but not the existence.
Nincs itt = He IS NOT here.
Nem itt van = He is not HERE.
I just hope it helps... I did not think it is this hard to explain :D :D :D
This explanation is different to the one I found after googling: https://hunlang.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/word-order-nem-van-or-nincs/
Az autó a garázsban van -> The car is not in the garage.
Az autó nincs a garázsban -> There is no car in the garage.
Is this explanation wrong, or are there different rules when talking about people as opposed to objects? Or something else that I'm missing?
Correction:
Az autó a garázsban van -> The car is in the garage.
The examples on the page are not quite correct either unfortunately. (I did not read the entire page)
Az autó nincs a garázsban -> (I have been looking for the car, but... ) The car is not in the garage.
Nincs autó a garázsban -> (You can park your car in the garage because... ) There is no car in the garage.
Az autó nem a garázsban van. -> (Get the wrench from the car, but... ) The car is not in the garage (rather behind the house).
I hope these contexts help a bit. Nincs = nem van. But in some cases both can be used and they will mean slightly different things. Word order matters for emphasis. And as for people vs objects... Does not matter in this case. I could give you the same examples with "Peter" as well.
https://tiny.cards/decks/ef478374-e443-4a6a-8c43-3fdd5b06afc5
I always read the comments and try to update my cards with what I believe to be the clearest descriptions:
van = 'something exist somewhere' eg A nő van otthon = 'the woman (something)' + exists in the location of + home
nincs = 'something doesn't exist somewhere' eg A nő nincs otthon = 'the woman (something)' + doesn't exist in the location of + home
And then I finally translate that into clear English.
ő is a 'placeholder for existence': ő nő = 'the existence is a woman' which is then reduced to 'this is a woman'. "...pedig ő egy fiú" = "but is something other than the existence of a boy" ---> ...but is not a boy.
I'm just a beginner, go easy on me ;)