Question 1

Why does it say "Es tut mir leid" instead of using the verb to be?

Accepted Answer

In English, we say "I am sorry". In German, the set phrase is es tut mir leid, which literally translates to "it does to me sorrow" or "it causes me pain". es means "it", tut means "does", and mir is "to me".

Question 2

Why do we use keine instead of nicht to say "no time"?

Accepted Answer

In German, when you negate a noun (like Zeit, meaning "time"), you use kein or its variations. You generally use nicht to negate verbs or adjectives. Since you are saying you have zero of a noun, keine is the correct word.

Question 3

Why does keine have an "-e" at the end here?

Accepted Answer

The word kein changes its ending depending on the gender of the noun that follows it. Zeit (time) is a feminine noun (die Zeit). For feminine nouns, kein takes the -e ending to become keine.

Question 4

Why is mir used in this sentence instead of ich or mich?

Accepted Answer

The phrase es tut mir leid requires the dative case, which answers the question "to whom?". The sorrow is happening to you, so you must use the dative pronoun mir ("to me") rather than the subject ich ("I") or the direct object mich ("me").

Es tut mir leid, ich habe keine Zeit.

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