Questions & Answers about Er macht nichts ohne mich.
Why is it mich and not mir or ich?
The word ohne (without) is a preposition that always requires the following noun or pronoun to be in the accusative case. The accusative form of ich (I) is mich (me).
Why does this sentence use nichts instead of nicht?
The word nicht means "not", while nichts means "nothing". If you said Er macht nicht ohne mich, it would sound incomplete, like saying "He does not do without me." To say he does nothing, you must use nichts.
Would a German speaker ever add nicht to this sentence to make it negative?
No, standard German does not use double negatives. Just like in standard English, you use a positive verb with a negative word. Er macht means "He does", and adding nichts makes it "He does nothing".
Why does the verb machen end in a -t here?
Because the subject of the sentence is Er (he). To match Er, you take the base verb machen (to do/make), drop the -en ending, and add -t to get macht.
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