"No, a lemon is not good."

Translation: Nein, eine Zitrone ist nicht gut.

[qwety]

Is it really unacceptable to say "Nein, eine Zitrone ist gut nicht"?

[deactivated user]

Yes.

[adriana453]

But why?

[deactivated user]

"nicht" negates "gut".

"The most general rules are:

1. Nicht will precede the specific word that is being negated

2. If there is no specific part of the sentence that is being negated, nicht will come at the end."

http://www.lsa.umich.edu/german/hmr/grammatik/Wortstellung/nicht.html

[Eviscia]

Thank you! I have always wondered why nicht is at the end sometimes, and before a word other times.

[HSopeh]

It didn't accept it this way !!!

[Chlax7]

Does nicht only come at the end of a sentence when it's used with a verb?

[deactivated user]

It's more complicated than that.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~german/Grammatik/WordOrder/WordOrder.html

http://coerll.utexas.edu/gg/gr/con_06.html

http://german.about.com/od/grammar/a/Negation.htm

[EishaGee]

Would it be acceptable to say "Nein, eine Zitrone ist kein gut"? Why or why not?

[TheMixon]

Sounds to me like you want to say "No, the lemon has no good". It can have no seeds (kein Gruben), but it's either good or not.

[Signer96]

How do you figure out if the word is masculine, feminine or neutral? I keep getting things wrong because I cant figure out if I should use der/das/die or ein/eine, etc

[DanielCosta1969]

There aren't many rules. But you can find some tables and some general rules (which usually have some exceptions, they aren't "hard" rules)
Here's an example:
http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa042098.htm

[keithlake17]

Why wont it let me use ein instead of eine in this sentence

[jennameyers7]

ein is neutral and the noun Zitrone is feminine, so it uses eine

[keithlake17]

thanks, that cleared up some confusion.

[Cathieloulou]

The instruction was to check ALL that apply. The two I checked were exactly the same and matched the answer exactly.

[i.prefer.gliders]

I don't understand why the accusative should be used here. Any clues from more experienced germanophones?

[deactivated user]

It's nominative, not accusative.

[RamiAgha]

Is it correct to say "ist schlicht"?

[qwety]

No, I'd say, because "not good" does not imply "bad". Just as "not tall" does not imply "short".

[deactivated user]

Why isn't it Nein, ein Zitrone ist nicht gut.
I thought Eine was for feminine purposes?

[Tetrateeth]

Zitrone is a feminine noun for grammar purposes