"I do not know anything about him."

Translation: Ich weiß nichts über ihn.

[zpoo742]

Why is it not 'ihm?' Wouldn't this be in the dative case?

[mrzuk]

über takes accusative when the meaning is 'about'. if you use dative, the meaning is 'over' and that would mean that you don't know anything what is positioned above him.

http://en.pons.com/translate?q=%C3%BCber&l=deen&in=&lf=de

[yaliyev]

Why weiß and not weiße?

[deactivated user]

"wissen" is irregular.

http://german.about.com/library/blwissen.htm

http://www.canoo.net/inflection/wissen:V:haben

[yaliyev]

Thank you! I was confused by the hint of DL which says that conjugation of 'know' for Ich is 'weiße'...

[deactivated user]

"ich weiße" is actually a different verb. "weißen" is regular and it means "to paint white". It's not a very common word, though.

http://www.canoo.net/inflection/wei%C3%9Fen:V:haben

http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/weiszen

[CarolZaczk]

Why is "kennen" the wrong verb?

[schultz4]

"Kennen" is used for expressing aquantience with something. "Wissen" is used for expressing knowledge of something. Since this sentence expresses lack of knowledge about a man rather than the man himself, "wissen" should be used.

E.g.: "Ich kenne ihn nicht" means I am not aquatinted with him. "Ich weiß über ihn nichts" means i don't know anything specifically about him

I try to associate "wissen" with wisdom to help me make this distinction.

http://www.livinglanguage.com/blog/2012/07/02/wissen-vs-kennen-to-know-in-german/

[Qian_Wei]

I want to know too.

[CarolZaczk]

@schultz4. Nice explanation. Thank you.

[afsaneparvizi]

here weiß is not an adjective its a verb

[maxdoppke]

What is wrong with "Ich weiß nicht irgendetwas an ihm."

[RobertoM.O]

is "über ihn weiß ich nichts" acceptable?

[CarolZaczk]

Should be.

[Zach686644]

I put "Ich weiß über ihn nichts" and was marked incorrect. Is this really incorrect? If so, what is the specific rule that explains why?

[JojoArmand]

Can't über also be used with Kennen?

[Ash_Vet]

Why we are not allowed to use "nicht" instead of "nichts"?

[CarolZaczk]

They are used differently. I think of "nicht“ as meaning "not" and "nichts“ as meaning "nothing". Ich weiß nicht = I do not know. Ich weiß nichts = I know nothing.

[Ash_Vet]

Danke fuer deine antworten.....