Learn German: Falsch, hier ist leider keine Brille. - Wrong, unfortunately there is no pair of glasses here.

We use a form of kein (meaning "no" or "not a") to negate nouns. We use nicht (not) to negate verbs or adjectives. Because Brille (glasses) is a feminine noun, we must add the feminine ending -e to kein, making it keine.

In English we say "glasses" which is plural, but the German sentence uses ist (is). Why?

In German, Brille is a singular noun referring to a single pair of glasses. Because it is singular, it takes the singular verb ist. If you wanted to talk about multiple pairs of glasses, you would use the plural noun Brillen and the plural verb sind.

Why does the verb ist come before the subject keine Brille?

In German sentences, the verb must always be in the second position. The word Falsch (wrong) is an exclamation separated by a comma, so the main sentence starts with hier (here) in position one. The verb ist takes position two, which pushes the subject (keine Brille) later into the sentence.

Where should I place adverbs like leider (unfortunately) in a sentence like this?