Negation
Negation
Inte (not) is easy to place in a plain statement — but the earlier V2 rule reaches into negation too, moving inte to a different spot once a sentence starts a clause of its own.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
inte goes right after the conjugated verb
Jag talar inte svenska.
I don't speak Swedish.
To negate a main-clause statement, place inte immediately after the conjugated verb — the reverse position from English, which puts "not" (well, "don't") before the verb. Jag talar inte svenska is literally "I speak not Swedish", with no auxiliary verb like "do" needed at all.
In a subordinate clause, inte jumps in front of the verb instead
Jag vet att jag inte talar svenska. (I know that I don't speak Swedish.)
I know that I don't speak Swedish.
This connects directly to the V2 rule from the sentence-structure lesson: subordinate clauses (starting with words like att, "that") don't follow the verb-second pattern, and inte moves to sit before the verb instead of after it — jag inte talar, not jag talar inte, inside the att-clause. It's a small but noticeable shift once you start building longer sentences.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- not
- English
- nothing
- English
- no one / none
- English
- never
- English
- not yet
- English
- there isn't
- English
- I don't know
- English
- it doesn't matter
- English
- I can't
- English
- that (subordinating conjunction)