Examples of negating sentences

Recall that the most common place for _niet_ is between the middle and the right part.

[FF](#/lesson/WordOrder.04) | [MANNER](#/lesson/WordOrder.13) | - | [OV](#/lesson/WordOrder.24)

We hebben | door het lawaai buiten | niet | kunnen slapen

We have not been able to sleep because of the noise outside.

Had we placed _niet_ immediately before 'het lawaai buiten' (the noise outside), we would have said: "We have been able to sleep not because of the noise outside." In other words, you were in fact able to sleep, but this was not caused by the noise outside.

[FF](#/lesson/WordOrder.04) | [DIROB](#/lesson/WordOrder.16) | - | [OV](#/lesson/WordOrder.24)

De dove man kon | de deurbel | niet | horen

The deaf man could not hear the doorbell.

With _niet_ immediately before _de deurbel_, we would have stressed that the deaf man could not hear the doorbell (but he might be able to hear something else).

[FF](#/lesson/WordOrder.04) | [DIROB](#/lesson/WordOrder.16) | - | [OV](#/lesson/WordOrder.24)

De schaakkampioen wilde | het partijtje | niet | opgeven

The chess champion did not want to give up the match..

If we place _niet_ before 'het partijtje' (the game), we say "It was not the game the chess champion wanted to give up (but his career?)."

[FF](#/lesson/WordOrder.04) | [DIROB](#/lesson/WordOrder.16) | [TIME](#/lesson/WordOrder.13) | - | [OV](#/lesson/WordOrder.24)

Ze hebben | hun huiswerk | gisteren | niet | gemaakt

They did not do their homework yesterday.

_Hun huiswerk_ is a [specific direct object](#/lesson/WordOrder.17), which we normally place at the beginning of the middle part. However, if we want to stress the direct object, we always place it at the end of the middle part (see [direct object](#/lesson/WordOrder.17)).

The following two examples illustrate how the position of _niet_ influences the meaning of the sentence:

They did not do their homework yesterday but the day before yesterday

The part _maar eergisteren_ falls outside the main clause. We will deal with [subclauses](#/lesson/WordOrder.55) later.

[FF](#/lesson/WordOrder.04) | [MANNER](#/lesson/WordOrder.13) | - | [MISC](#/lesson/WordOrder.28) | [OV](#/lesson/WordOrder.24)

Erik kwam | door een open brug | niet | op tijd | \-\-\-

Due to an open bridge\*, Erik was not on time.

(\*) Because of the many bridges in Holland, an almost proverbial excuse for being late is that _de brug was open_.

Instead of _niet op tijd_, we might as well say _te laat_ (too late).

[FF](#/lesson/WordOrder.04) | - | [MANNER](#/lesson/WordOrder.13) | [MISC](#/lesson/WordOrder.28) | [OV](#/lesson/WordOrder.24)

Erik kwam | niet | door een open brug | op tijd | \-\-\-

Erik was on time not due to an open bridge.

If we place _niet_ before _door een open brug_, Erik was apparently on time but this state of affairs was not caused by an open bridge. It is a rather silly thing to say that Erik was not on time because of an open bridge, which generally causes the opposite, but because of something else.

[FF](#/lesson/WordOrder.04) | - | [DIROB](#/lesson/WordOrder.16) | [OV](#/lesson/WordOrder.24) | -

We wilden | niet | een bosje bloemen | geven | maar een doosje bonbons

We did not want to give a bouquet of flowers but a box of pralines.

In the above example, we placed _niet_ before a [non-specific direct object](#/lesson/WordOrder.17). It is more common to use [geen](#/lesson/WordOrder.47) in this case.

As you read at the beginning of this page, you can almost always place _niet_ between the middle and the right part. Almost, because there is one element inside the middle part that always follows after _niet_: When the PLACE element refers to a direction, _niet_ immediately precedes PLACE.

[FF](#/lesson/WordOrder.04) | [TIME](#/lesson/WordOrder.13) | - | [PLACE](#/lesson/WordOrder.15) | [OV](#/lesson/WordOrder.24)

Ze zijn | gisteren | niet | naar de film | geweest

They did not go the movies yesterday.

The sentence "Ze zijn gisteren naar de film _niet_ geweest" is plainly wrong. This is contrary to the other examples, where misplacing _niet_ can change the context of a sentence but does not render an incorrect sentence.

[FF](#/lesson/WordOrder.04) | - | [PLACE](#/lesson/WordOrder.15) | [OV](#/lesson/WordOrder.24)

Onze kat wilde | niet | van het dak af | komen

Our cat did not want to come off the roof.

The same goes for "Onze kat wilde van het dak af _niet_ komen", which is also grammatically incorrect. Note that the PLACE element consists of a preposition (van), a noun (het dak), and a postposition (af). Indications of direction or movement often take this form.