Questions & Answers about Ik verstop geen geheimen in mijn schrift.
How would I change this sentence to say "I do not hide secrets in mine" using the grammar from this lesson?
You would drop the word schrift and use the independent possessive het mijne, making the sentence: Ik verstop geen geheimen in het mijne. You must use het because schrift is a het-word. Remember that you can only use het mijne when the noun is completely left out (never say het mijne schrift).
Why does the sentence use geen instead of niet to mean "do not"?
In Dutch, you use geen (meaning "no" or "not any") to negate an indefinite noun. An indefinite noun is one that doesn't have "the", "this", or a possessive like "my" in front of it. Since the English refers to hiding "secrets" in general, Dutch phrases this as hiding "no secrets" (geen geheimen).
Is verstop a separable verb? Do I ever need to put ver at the end of the sentence?
No, verbs starting with the prefix ver- (like verstoppen) are inseparable. The ver- stays firmly attached to the beginning of the verb in all sentence structures.
Doesn't the word schrift mean "script" or "writing"?
It can mean "script" or "handwriting", but in everyday Dutch vocabulary, het schrift is also the standard word for a paper notebook or exercise book (the kind you write in for school or journaling).