Breakdown of Ich kenne die Eltern nicht.
ich
I
nicht
not
kennen
to know (somebody/something)
die Eltern
the parents
Questions & Answers about Ich kenne die Eltern nicht.
Why is kenne used here for "know" instead of a form of wissen?
In German, there are two common verbs for "to know". You use kennen (here as ich kenne) when you mean being familiar with a person, place, or thing. You use wissen when you know a fact. Since we are talking about knowing people, kennen is the correct choice.
This lesson is about possessive words. How would I change this to say "I do not know your parents"?
You would say Ich kenne deine Eltern nicht (informal) or Ich kenne Ihre Eltern nicht (formal). Because Eltern is plural and acts as the direct object receiving the action (the accusative case), the possessive words take the plural accusative ending -e.
Why does nicht go at the very end of the sentence?
When you want to negate a whole sentence or an action in German, nicht usually gets pushed to the very end. While English uses "do not" right before the verb, the German sentence structure is literally "I know the parents not."
Is die here a feminine article or a plural article?
It is the plural article. The word Eltern means "parents" and is a plural word. In the accusative case, the definite article for plural nouns is always die.