"If I do not cook, I do not eat."

Translation: Wenn ich nicht koche, esse ich nicht.

[chimera]

i translated it as "wenn ich koche nicht ich esse nicht". duolingo doesn't accept it. why? why is my sentence incorrect?

[S.Boots]

Rule is - in dependent clause (with 'wenn') conjugating verb stands in the end of clause. That's why 'nicht' stands before 'koche'.
For indpendant clause (without 'wenn') - if it's in second place (after dependent clause), it starts with conjugating verb.
I hope that helps.

[Ads20000]

Or in a more simplified form: 'wenn ... [verb], [verb] ...'

[Jeremy_A]

I'm having trouble with this. In this sentence it goes, "Wenn ich nicht koche, esse ich nicht." In the second part of the sentence, the verb comes first.

But there's another sentence in this unit that goes, "Wenn ich koche, er isst." In the second part of the sentence, the verb comes second.

What is the difference?

[duoderSie]

You must have remembered the second example wrongly. It should be "wenn ich koche, er isst"

[Jeremy_A]

That's what I wrote...

[LorenaDiazGarcia]

Apparently you both made the same typo. Should be "Wenn ich koche, isst er".

[duoderSie]

The rule for the main clause is Verb in second place, but the whole subordinate clause (when I don't cook) counts as the first position. When I speak I still make this mistake a lot

[duoderSie]

Just a warning: This sentence is a poor translation because for this meaning Germans would use the subjunctive. If you haven't learnt the subjunctive mood yet don't worry, but it's good to know about it.

For years (when my german was at a basic level) I wondered how can I differentiate between "when" and "if" because in German there is only one word "wenn". Then I realised "if" uses the subjunctive (mood) and "when" the standard mood (formally called indicative). In this example there is a big difference between "When I cook" and "If I cook"

It should be something like "Wenn ich nicht kochen würde, würde ich nicht essen"

[maycl]

Is "Falls" nicht acceptable instead of "Wenn" here? It marked me as a mistake.

[duoderSie]

Yes. "Falls" is a bit stronger than "wenn" meaning "in the case that" (Fall is a translation of case)

[anniekate]

I thought word order was always verb second. Does nicht not count? What I mean is, why isn't it "Wenn ich koche nicht?"

[legX]

I guess it is because "wenn ich nicht koche" is not the principal proposition of the sentence. "esse" is in second position, after this subordonate "wenn...".
(but I made the same mistake as you).

[plopesresearch]

Why is "ob ich koch nicht, esse ich nicht. " not valid? Germans use "ob" for "if" all the time.

ob = if (http://www.dict.cc/?s=ob)

[LorenaDiazGarcia]

Yes, ob means if but only if it can be substituted for "whether".

[anamalena]

why not: ''Als ich nicht koche, esse ich nicht.'' ?

[cslevente]

Wenn koche Ich nicht, esse ich nicht (Is it correct?)

[athalaberhtaz]

The part after the comma is correct, but the first part should be "Wenn ich nicht koche".

[cslevente]

Thank you!