Breakdown of Je mag er niet parkeren.
niet
not
mogen
to be allowed to / may
parkeren
to park
er
there (in that place)
je
you (unstressed form of jij)
Questions & Answers about Je mag er niet parkeren.
Why does the sentence use er for "there" instead of daar?
Both words mean "there", but er is the unstressed version. If you want to emphasize "that specific place over there" (like pointing a finger), you use daar. If you are just referring to a place already mentioned without putting any special stress on it, you use er.
Why does niet come after er instead of before it?
Why is parkeren at the very end of the sentence?
This sentence uses mag (are allowed to), which is a modal or "helping" verb. In Dutch, when you use a helping verb, the main action verb (parkeren) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence in its full dictionary form (infinitive).
Wait, doesn't mag mean "may"? Why is it translated as "are allowed to"?
In Dutch, the verb mogen (where mag comes from) specifically means having permission to do something. In English, we can say "You may not park there" or "You are not allowed to park there" to express exactly the same thing.
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