Questions & Answers about Ich frühstücke nicht.
Where is the word for "eat" in this sentence?
In English, we say "eat breakfast," using "breakfast" as a noun. In German, frühstücken is an action word (a verb) all on its own! It literally means "to breakfast." So, Ich frühstücke means "I eat breakfast."
Why isn't there a translation for the English word "do" here?
German doesn't use a helper word like "do" to make negative sentences. You simply take the regular verb and add your negative word, which is why "I do not eat breakfast" structurally translates as "I breakfast not."
Why is nicht at the very end of the sentence?
When you negate an entire action, the word nicht (not) usually goes at the end of the sentence. Since Ich frühstücke is the whole action here, nicht simply tags onto the end.
Since we are learning frequency words, how would I change this to say "I never eat breakfast"?
You would just replace nicht (not) with the frequency adverb nie (never). Just like nicht, short adverbs of frequency often go at the end of a simple sentence like this: Ich frühstücke nie.
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