49 Comments
Because its MAG. Mag is used for DIE Katze /the cat/ , in case that its KatzeN /plural/ it should be mögen.
I am wondering the same thing. I think it should be, "Keine Katzen mögen Wasser."
The original question makes perfect sense in English, "no cat likes water", if it were "keine Katzen mögen Wasser" then it would translate to "no cats like water" and this still makes sense however it's not the correct translation
Ye it wasn't accepted for me either. I'm finding with Duolingo German they really want direct translations not sure why "No cats like water" has the same meaning as "no cat likes water" but the former sounds more natural in English
only to find an alternative for saying it in plural, i wonder if one could say "(die) Katzen mögen Wasser nicht". or should it be "(die) Katzen mögen nicht Wasser"? Google Translate puts it as "Katzen mögen kein Wasser". but "cats like no water" can mean for me "cats don't like any (kind of) water". i'm not a native english speaker, so maybe i'm wrong...
If you use kein/keine to negate a noun, you always use singular, as far as I understood. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Perhaps, if you want to use plural, you could say: "Katzen mögen Wasser nicht."
From the tips and notes section
Kein
Simply put, "kein" is composed of "k + ein" and placed where the indefinite article would be in a sentence. For instance, look at the positive and negative statement about each noun: "ein Mann" (a man) versus "kein Mann" (not a/not one man), and "eine Frau" versus "keine Frau."
"Kein" is also used for negating nouns that have no article: "Man hat Brot" (one has bread) versus "Man hat kein Brot" (one has no bread).
Nicht
Use "nicht" in the following five situations: 1.Negating a noun that has a definite article like "der Raum" (the room) in "Der Architekt mag den Raum nicht" (the architect does not like the room). 2.Negating a noun that has a possessive pronoun like "sein Glas" (his glass) in "Der Autor sucht sein Glas nicht." (the writer is not looking for his glass). 3.Negating the verb: "Sie haben nicht" (they/you do not have). 4.Negating an adverb or adverbial phrase. For instance, "Mein Mann isst nicht immer" (my husband does not eat at all times). 5.Negating an adjective that is used with "sein" (to be): "Du bist nicht hungrig" (you are not hungry).
If I am okay, in the situation number five that you talk, it would be "Du hast nicht Hunger".
No Hunger is a noun, not an adjective. It would be "Du hast keinen Hunger".
If you said "Du hast nicht Hunger" you'd have to follow it up with what they do have. For example "Du hast nicht Hunger, sondern Durst."
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Unsure about the first thing you said, but I read in a different discussion that your example there is wrong.
You can only use 'nicht' if there is an article (the/an/a), so you could either say "Katzen mögen kein Wasser", or "Katzen mögen das Wasser nicht."
If that were the case, you couldn't say "I don't like cheese" but only "I don't like the cheese." I think "Katzen mögen Wasser nicht" is a perfectly correct sentence.
Replying to efisgpr's post simply because it is the most recent one in this section of this discussion thread. Best web page I've read thus far on this topic is the one you'll find below:
Your mastery of German may have far surpassed what can be learned from that page, but if not (or for those who are just starting their study of German), hope that helps.
Some cats actually like water. I had a cat that loved to mess around with water (and often made a mess.) Though, most cats will not want to swim in water, but some do.
It could be, but in this specific sentences Duo stresses the noun Katze, not Wasser. Keine Katze - no cat, kein Wasser- no water.
No cats like water . What is wrong with sentence ? It exactly means the same as : No cat likes water .
Whenever I turn on the water, my cat comes out of the woodwork and dives into the sink under the faucet. He often gets there faster than I can get my hands wet. I have another cat who does hate water, though. They are so different in every way. My cats are FULL of personality. They crack me up.
Why not "Katze mag keine Wasser?" Wasn't that how it was phrasing negatives in the first half of this lesson?
For starters, singular nouns without articles are in general a no-no in German. There are exceptions of course, like proper nouns, but normally you cannot have a singular noun without a form of ‘der’ / ‘die’ / ‘das’ (the) or ‘ein’ / ‘eine’ (an). Again, there are exceptions.
Going on, ‘Wasser’ is neuter (it takes ‘das’) so you'd need ‘kein’ rather than ‘keine’.
And then there is a more subtle point of meaning. Compare the following:
1) Katzen mögen kein Wasser. = Cats don't like water.
2) Keine Katze mag Wasser. = No cat likes water.
These are similar, sure, but don't mean quite the same thing.
On a lighter note, there are actually cats that do enjoy water.
I think it's worth mentioning that eine, deine, seine, ihre, Giselas, & die are all "determiners". I would like to amplify & tweak what you said by suggesting an edit from "without articles" to "without a determiner". Of course, that's a grammatical category new to some, so maybe it's best left here in this addendum so as to avoid bumfuzzling anyone.
You are of course one hundred percent correct.
Determiners as a concept are important in Dutch and Danish as well. Their presence influences inflection of adjectives for example.
Protip: cats prefer running water away from their foodsource. Hygiene thing. (Clever little babies aren't they <3)
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I get confused about which to use; probably presenting these rules at the start of the lesson might have helped.
I wrote "cats don't like water" which tends to be the way duolingo interprets sentences like this and it was marked wrong!
No cat likes water , could be correct but dome of these sentances are strange.
