"Not all children like apples."
Translation:Nicht alle Kinder mögen Äpfel.
60 Comments
I'm not trained enough, so why isnt 'alle Kinder mögen äpfel nicht' good? Does anyone know, please?
1817
Different meaning.
Alle Kinder mögen Äpfel nicht = All children do not like apples
Nicht alle Kinder mögen Äpfel = Not all children like apples (some children do like apples)
There are certain rules about the placement of nicht in a sentence.
http://german.about.com/od/grammar/a/The-Position-Of-Nicht.htm
These examples help me understand why "Alle Kinder mögen Äpfel nicht" is wrong, but not why 'Nicht alle Kinder mögen Äpfel" is right.
If the sentence to translate was "The children do not like apples" I would think "Die Kinder mögen Äpfel nicht" right? "All children do not like apples" would then seem to logically translate to "Alle Kinder mögen Äpfel nicht." I understand that putting the nicht at the beginning changes the sentence meaning in the same way that moving not does in English, though I'm not clear on the rule as to why.
Leaving peculiarities of English grammar aside, the point of this exercise (judging by that the discussion title) is to translate ‘Not all children like apples.’
In this case ‘nicht’ modifies ‘alle’ to create ‘not all’ i.e. maybe some but not each and every one. In German ‘nicht’ generally stands in front of the word it modifies.
Now, suppose that ‘nicht’ were standing at the end of the sentence, in front of what word does it stand then? Well, let's have a look at these sentences for a bit:
1) Ich weiß, dass alle Kinder Äpfel nicht mögen.
2) Dass alle Kinder Äpfel nicht mögen, weiß ich.
In these sentences it's easy to see that ‘nicht’ modifies ‘mögen’ so sentence 1 could be translated freely (to avoid confusion as to what it is that ‘not’ applies to in the English sentence) as ‘I know that all children hate apples’.
Now, as it turns out in German in a main clause, the verb moves to the second position. In sentence 1 the first position is occupied by ‘ich’ and in sentence 2 by ‘Dass ... mögen’. That's what dictates the position of ‘weiß’ in both sentences and the rest must follow.
However, ‘nicht’ doesn't move along, so if we turn the subordinate clause in these sentences into a main sentence of its own, we get:
3) Alle Kinder mögen Äpfel nicht. ~ All children hate apples. (Warning: free translation for clarity.)
That answers the question: if ‘nicht’ is at the end it modifies the main verb. Note that in sentence 3 the first position is taken by ‘alle Kinder’ and the second position again by the verb, ‘mögen’.
So where you put ‘nicht’ determines which word is negated and hence the meaning of the sentence.
I hope this helps, if you need more clarification, just ask.
Yeah, in the time since I had posted this comment the usage of nicht has gotten a lot more clear to me. My current understanding seems to mesh with what you're saying.
I've come to think of it this way: nicht goes at the end of the sentence (or clause) if you're negating the main action or idea. It's like you're saying a complete thought and then wrapping it in a big bubble of Nope. If you're using nicht to negate or modify something else, it sits beside that thing. This at least serves me well enough for Duolingo exercises :)
‘wrapping it in a big bubble of Nope’
That's a wonderful way of putting it. It's precisely what happens when you negate the main verb, since it serves as the ‘root word’ of the sentence. (Interestingly, this seems to hold true for a lot of languages besides German.)
So "nicht" before "all" because the later finctions as an adjective. Am i right?
‘Nicht’ precedes ‘alle’ not because it's an adjective, but because in German ‘nicht’ generally stands in front of whatever it negates. And what you want to negate depends on the intended meaning: we aren't trying to say that all children don't like apples, but that not all children like apples (even though some, maybe even most, children do like apples).
" ‘nicht’ generally stands in front of whatever it negates". If this is the case why nicht comes at the end in certain sentences?
Your nicht placement indicates that all kids dont like apples, the nicht thing can get confusing sometimes, im not a good teacher , nor am I good enough to explain it sorry :/
Does "Nicht jedes Kind mag Äpfel" also have the same meaning, and is it something a native speaker would say?
I know this is probably a stupid question, but why is it mögen and not mag? Conjugation, right?
I was marked wrong for "Nicht alle Kinder haben Äpfel gern", should that be accepted?
- 270
I said this too. I think it should be accepted. I'm pretty sure that was how I learned it on the farm in Germany back in 1977. Hast du das gern? when I was offered something new to eat, for instance. Maybe my ear heard Machst du instead of magst du, so they switched to hast du das gern instead to reduce my confusion.
I also learned haben etwas gern, and was taught that it was the more common usage.
With food you normally use ‘mögen’. I've seen several Germans online say that ‘gern haben’ would sound weird and wouldn't necessarily mean you actually like to eat them.
What is the difference between "alle" and "alles"? Does "alle" always have to do with people while "alles" has to do with things? Thanks for the help.
- 172
I had the same problem.... Still waiting for and answer. but i suppose alle is plural
- 1376
Nicht alle Kinder mögen Äpfel. - Not all children like apples.
Nicht jedes Kind mag Äpfel. - Not every child likes apples.
Is there a saying that the verb should always stay in the second position of the sentence right? So why "Nicht mögen alle Kinder Äpfel" is wrong? I know it sounds strange...
Why can't it be: "Nicht alle Kinder mögen Apfeln?" Why wasn't the word "Apples" in the German answer in plural form/the same as the English counterpart.
German word order is pretty free, so rather than say that there is a rule that allows it, it's perhaps better to say that there is no rule that prohibits it. And since apples are incapable of liking things, you know they must be the object in this sentence. Here is a discussion on the subject.
What is the difference between kleine and nicht? Is it that kleine is a negative possesive and nicht is a negative discriptive?
I got from the comments why the meaning changes if 'nicht' is put the the end of the sentence. But I am confused why the verb is not in the second position?
The verb IS in the second position: second position doesn’t necessarily mean the second word; it means the second idea. So “nicht alle Kinder” (not all children) is the first idea, followed by “moegen” as the second idea.
- 87
I put Alle Kinder mögen keine Äpfel. Idk, seems like "all children don't like apples" and "not all children like apples" is the same thing. It could mean the same thing in English but I take it it's not the same in Deutsch?
- 87
I tried "Äpfel mögen nicht alle Kinder" That's right. I take it as Duo really hates using keiner here.
- 87
Actually this helps me understand the nicht placement now. It's going after the verb and before the noun. I suppose nicht at the beginning of the sentence is foreign to me but then again I'm new and sentences can be easily restructured in Deutsch.
Because it means “all children don’t like apples”. Which is a different thing to “Not all children like apples”
I put in Nicht alle Kinder wie Äpfel. Why is that not acceptable. It appears that sometimes Duo. is too rigid.
"wie" means: like, as, similar to, how. It is not a verb! Your sentence would translate to something like "not all children as apples."
