Breakdown of Wir haben leider kein Bild unserer Vorfahren.
haben
to have
kein
no, not any
wir
we
das Bild
the picture
leider
unfortunately
unser
our
der Vorfahr
the ancestor
Questions & Answers about Wir haben leider kein Bild unserer Vorfahren.
Why is it unserer Vorfahren instead of unsere Vorfahren?
The ending -er on unserer shows the Genitive case, which indicates possession. In English, this translates to "of our ancestors" or "our ancestors'". While you might be used to saying von unseren Vorfahren with the dative case to mean "of our", the Genitive case used here is a very common and elegant way to show ownership in German.
Why isn't there a German word for "of" in this sentence?
German doesn't need a separate preposition for "of" here because the Genitive case does that job automatically! The special grammatical ending on unserer builds the "of" meaning right into the phrase.
Why does leider come after the verb, unlike in the English translation?
In German, adverbs like leider (unfortunately) often tuck in right behind the verb and the subject. You could also put it at the very start for emphasis: Leider haben wir kein Bild... Just remember the strict "verb second" rule! If you start the sentence with leider, the verb haben must immediately follow it.
Why use kein Bild instead of nicht ein Bild?
When you want to say "not a" or "no" directly before a noun in German, you almost always use the negative article kein. Because Bild is a neuter noun acting as the direct object (the thing we don't have), it takes the plain accusative neuter form: kein.
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