Breakdown of Wir kaufen keine neuen Traktoren.
kaufen
to buy
kein
no, not any
wir
we
neu
new
der Traktor
the tractor
Questions & Answers about Wir kaufen keine neuen Traktoren.
Why does the adjective neu get an -en ending here to become neuen?
Because it comes after the plural negative article keine. In German, when an adjective describes a plural noun and comes after a definite article (like die), a possessive article (like meine), or a negative article (like keine), it takes an -en ending.
Why does this sentence use keine instead of nicht to mean "not"?
In German, when you want to negate a noun that doesn't have a definite article (like "tractors" in general), you use a form of kein. You can think of keine as meaning "zero" or "not any". We use keine here because we are negating the noun (Traktoren), not the verb (kaufen).
Is Traktoren the standard plural ending for words like Traktor?
Yes! Der Traktor is a masculine noun borrowed from Latin. Many masculine loanwords that end in -or take an -en ending in the plural. Other examples include der Motor becoming die Motoren and der Professor becoming die Professoren.
What case is the phrase keine neuen Traktoren in?
It is in the accusative case. The tractors are the direct object of the sentence because they are the things being bought. Notice that for plural nouns in the accusative case, the negative article is keine and the following adjective gets an -en ending.
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