"The salt is not bad."
Translation:Das Salz ist nicht schlecht.
12 Comments
Where should "nicht" be on the sentence? That is, should it be at the end of the sentence or after the verb? Why is "Das Salz ist schlecht nicht" not appropriate here when it seems to be the case in other sentences?
Well. That link almost helps except there's also all sorts of other grammatical stuff going on that I haven't a clue about, which makes it more confusing for me, not less. Does that perhaps indicate that Duolingo is introducing nicht too early?
I read that but it is still confusing as to when to use nicht. Nicht verstehen!
It would be used if there was no salt.
Es gibt kein Salz.
Or this is not salt.
Das ist kein Salz.
But here it discripes the quality of the salt, not bad translates to nicht schlecht.
Kein negates a noun, not verbs. Nicht negates verbs and adjectives, but not nouns.
Das Salz ist gut = the salt is good. Das Salz ist nicht gut. Nicht is negating "gut" not the salt itself. In this example Das Salz ist nicht schlecht, nicht is negating schlect. Kein wouldnt work. You cant say: the salt is no bad. Kein doesnt mean "not"
You would use kein if you were saying: Das Salz ist kein Apfel. The salt is not an apple.
I have found that German is in a lot of ways like that archaic English you read in fantasy novels. Thee/thou etc. Kein is like saying "that is no orc horn" or that is no apple".
Because it is Die Sonne, der Mond, das Auto, das Salz, der Zucker... That's just the way it is.
