- Forum >
- Topic: German >
- "No, I do not like the lamp."
"No, I do not like the lamp."
Translation:Nein, die Lampe mag ich nicht.
138 Comments
420
You may have had some other error. I just now (28Mar20) answered with: "Nein, ich mag die Lampe nicht" and was marked correct.
420
The most important thing is that the verb needs to be in the 2nd position (apparently "Nein" doesn't count, btw - an interjection, I guess). So your second sentence doesn't work.
943
I finished the Spanish and am at about the level called B2, or the end of the second year of college Spanish. I think the German would be similar. I ended feeling like a beginner but able to read newspapers and simple fiction.
468
I have been marked wrong before when writing Sub. verb. nicht. Obj., telling me that it should be Sub. verb. Obj. nicht. There is no absolute rule for this, and even though someone in a comment section on a previous exercise that it depends on what exactly is negated, this does not solve the question or explain why any of us were marked incorrect for this question (I answered the same as the person above by the way).
Early on duolingo taught learners that a sentence like "Ich bin nicht ein Hund" is an acceptable sentence construction. With this example here, however, I wonder if the fact that this more complex sentence, which contains a direct object, dictates the need to place "nicht" at the end. Anyone want to comment on this?
151
I can't get why nicht sometimes follows a verb immediately and other times is at the end of the sentence. The split verb issue is one reason for the difference but other times it's just random.
420
Not actually random; there are rules, you just haven't learned them yet. As with most things German, they are a bit complicated (I certainly haven't internalized them all yet). One or more of these may help:
https://chatterbug.com/grammar/german/position-of-nicht
https://learnoutlive.com/german-negation-nicht/
https://resources.german.lsa.umich.edu/grammatik/nicht/
151
I gave you a lingot. I shouldn't have been so dismissive. I know it's not random. It's just that I kept thinking I understood the rule, and then it would change and I was frustrated. Nicht and the adverb/verb position switches are actually more problematic for me than declentions and inflections are if you can believe that. Thank you.
151
Also, because nicht issues led me to "separable" and "inseparable" verbs. I offer the following as a beautiful resource for understanding how to deal with them. https://www.fluentu.com/blog/german/german-separable-verbs/
420
Haha, thanks. I can certainly empathize with your frustration. Sometimes I read a new sentence and wonder if German was deliberately devised as some sort of secret code.
420
Ah, thanks. Yes, separable verbs, another tricky one. And I still need cheat sheets to help me figure out which endings to use on adjectives and articles. I can just see me now, on a sidewalk in Hamburg, sifting through bits of paper as I try to construct a recognizable sentence....
You have a choice here, Duolingo accepts both "Ich mag die Lampe nicht" and "Die Lampe mag ich nicht" as correct, the difference is in the emphasis. If you want to accentuate that it is YOU who doesn't like it, you say the first one (that's more common, I would say). If you want to put more emphasis on the object, as in "THIS LAMP is what I don't like", you use the second. I hope that helps.
420
I think of it this way: the major elements of the sentence - subject, verb, object - are usually the first, second and third elements. The subject isn't just the bare word, like, say, Milch. It could include an article or other modifier. It could even be a whole subordinate clause. But it is the subject of the sentence. Objects, too, can be more than one word, but they are a conceptual unit. Subjects and objects can be in the first or third position, but, in a declarative sentence (not a question), the verb is always in the second position. Oh, and, as far as I have been able to work out, conjunctions just don't count in the designation of position.
I think I have that right. German-speaking persons, please correct or confirm.
Read the answer above your:
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/191954?comment_id=31584762
Or this:
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/191954?comment_id=3044888
If anyone has trouble with this, take a look at the children's story in "Struwwelpeter" about the boy who won't eat his soup and gets skinnier and skinnier daily until he dies (as one does in old German kids' books)
"Ich esse keine Suppe! Nein! Ich esse meine Suppe nicht! Nein, meine Suppe esse ich nicht!"
Hey! I'm sure this might be late, but typically I've noticed that its subject, verb, and object being affected. In this example, Nein is sort of like its own part. Then, "ich mag die Lampe nicht" is Ich (I) subject, mag (like in Ich form) for verb in second position always, and die Lampe for the object being affected. Nicht is at the end to negate the verb. Hope that helps! Vielglück!
420
Order does matter, just not in the same ways as in English. In German, the verb needs to be in the second position, therefore your second sentence does not work. The other two are correct.
616
The answer is confusing. Nein, die Lampe mag ich nicht to me it translate like "the lamp does not like me".
348
Hello, greetings from Corona time 9th of June 2020
I understood that it can be either:
"Nein, Ich mag die Lampe nicht" --> usual!
"Nein, die Lampe mag ich nicht" --> so unusual & 1st time to see!
From what I understand from the 2nd one is "No, the lamp doesn't love me"
Am I the only one?
Somebody explain plz!
Thank you and stay safe
420
Both sentences mean the same thing. You can tell, because "ich" is only used as the subject in a sentence, wherever you find it. I'm told that the difference in meaning is more or less that the second sentence emphasizes it is the lamp, and not some other thing, that I don't like.
If it were the lamp doesn't love me, "me" would be the object of the sentence, therefore in the accusative case, therefore "die Lampe mag mich nicht".
420
Here is a comment from further up this page:
You have a choice here, Duolingo accepts both "Ich mag die Lampe nicht" and "Die Lampe mag ich nicht" as correct, the difference is in the emphasis. If you want to accentuate that it is YOU who doesn't like it, you say the first one (that's more common, I would say). If you want to put more emphasis on the object, as in "THIS LAMP is what I don't like", you use the second. I hope that helps.
Perhaps you had a typo?
420
You would need the dative form, "Nein, die Lampe gefällt mir nicht". I don't guarantee that Duo has this version in its list of accepted answers, though.
482
"Nein, die lampe nicht gefallen mir" was not accepted. Can anyone help me with why this might be incorrect?
420
"Lampe" is a noun and so has to be capitalized, you have the wrong conjugation for "gefallen", and "nicht" needs to go at the end. So it would be, "Nein, die Lampe gefällt mir nicht". I don't guarantee Duo has that version in its database for this exercise, though.