Breakdown of Wij hebben in deze rivier nog geen haai of krokodil gezien.
wij
we
hebben
to have
geen
no / not any
zien
to see
in
in
deze
this / these
of
or
nog
still, yet / more, another (with a quantity)
de rivier
the river
de haai
the shark
de krokodil
the crocodile
Questions & Answers about Wij hebben in deze rivier nog geen haai of krokodil gezien.
Why is geen used here instead of niet?
Geen is used to negate nouns that are indefinite (nouns that would use een or no article in an affirmative sentence). Because the English translation is "not a shark or crocodile", Dutch replaces the implied een with the negative article geen.
How do the words nog geen work together?
Nog geen combines nog (yet/still) with geen (not a / no). Together, they mean "not a single... yet" or "still no...". It is the most natural way in Dutch to express that you haven't encountered a particular thing yet.
Why does the location in deze rivier appear before the direct object (nog geen haai of krokodil)?
In Dutch word order, indefinite direct objects (like a noun negated by geen) are pushed toward the end of the sentence, usually landing right before the verbs at the end. Because of this, the prepositional phrase of place (in deze rivier) comes before the animals.
This lesson is about laat staan dat (let alone). How could we use it here instead of of?
Currently, the sentence just links the two animals equally with of (or) under the single negation geen. If you wanted to emphasize that a crocodile is even less likely to be seen than a shark, you could rewrite it using the lesson's grammar: Wij hebben in deze rivier nog geen haai gezien, laat staan een krokodil. (We haven't seen a shark in this river yet, let alone a crocodile.)
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