Learn Dutch: De hond kon niet over de hindernis springen. - The dog could not jump over the obstacle.

You would replace the noun phrase with er (it). However, with a verb of motion like springen, simply using erover is not enough to convey going completely from one side to the other. You need the circumposition overheen. The sentence becomes: De hond kon er niet overheen springen.

Why is niet placed directly before over de hindernis?

In Dutch, niet usually comes before prepositional phrases that describe a specific direction or location. Because over de hindernis tells us the direction of the jump, niet is placed right in front of it to negate that specific action.

Could I use the present perfect heeft niet kunnen springen instead of the simple past kon niet springen?

Yes, but kon niet springen is much more common. For modal verbs like kunnen, the simple past is generally preferred in everyday Dutch over the present perfect, even when describing a single, completed event in the past. The present perfect here would also trigger the 'double infinitive' rule, which is correct but can feel clunky.

Is there a difference between de hindernis and het obstakel?