Hello, I’m an beginner in dutch and I have some doubts about how to negate a sentence.
I know that when there’s the article “een” in the sentence, you just have to change it into a “geen”. It’s weird to get used with, but it’s possible. So ok up to here. My problem is the “niet”:
When is it used? Where to put it in a sentence?
Which of these sentences are correct: “De lerares is niet boos.” or "De lerares is boos niet?
Thank you all
Hi Miguel. It depends where you want the opposite. In principle ‘niet’ (=not in English) comes just before the word you want to negate:
Like
De lerares is boos → De lerares is niet boos. (negate adjective boos)
For verbs it depends on the form of the sentence, usually it comes after the first verb:
Ik wil slapen. → Ik wil niet slapen.
Ik ga naar school. → Ik ga niet naar school.
Ik ben naar school geweest → Ik ben niet naar school geweest.
If there is a question, it comes after the subject:
Ben je naar school geweest? → Ben je niet naar school geweest?
Wil je slapen? → Wil je niet slapen?
But I realise there are more possibilities:
Heb je dat gedaan? → Heb je dat niet gedaan?
So I now realised this is almost impossible to explain, and I consulted some websites:
http://www.taalbeleid.ugent.be/popup_negatie.html
Well, my conclusion is that you just have to read and listen a lot and will get a feeling, because if I try to understand the explanations, I would have a lot of trouble applying them in real life!
Good luck,
Silvia
Hello,
I am also a Dutch beginner.
I found a helpful video on Youtube about “geen” and “niet”.
I don’t think the explanations are complete but they certainly are very clear.
Maybe it can be useful to you as well.
Good luck with your studies.
Thank you @silviad. I think I understand now. Now for me is enough to know that “niet” comes before adjectives… later on I try to worry about the others 
I have another question…
How do you say “there’s” or “there are” in dutch?
Like, how would you translate the sentence “There are only two people in the bank.” or “There’s a site about Nederlands”?
And @ harpagon, thank you. I found the video to have a clear explaination. Her youtube channel is really good. ;D
Thank you all again,
Miguel
There are only two people in the bank. = Er zijn maar twee mensen in de bank.
There is a site about Dutch. = Er is een website over het Nederlands.
There are many people interested in the Dutch language. = Er zijn veel mensen geïnteresseerd in de Nederlandse taal.
There is a lot to do at work. = Er is veel te doen op het werk.
I hope that these examples are helpful. = Ik hoop dat deze voorbeelden nuttig zijn.
Fasulye
Thank you, Fasulye!
Now I undertand…
Er is =There is
Er zijn =There are
Following the same pattern,
Er was =There was
Er waren = There were
Thank you again ;D
Miguel
Ja, dat heb je nu goed begrepen, Miguel!
Yes, you have well understood that now, Miguel!
Fasulye