Breakdown of Suchen wir einen Campingplatz? Hier ist leider keiner.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
hier
here
wir
we
suchen
to look for
leider
unfortunately
keiner
none / not one (sister forms: keins, keine)
der Campingplatz
the campsite
Questions & Answers about Suchen wir einen Campingplatz? Hier ist leider keiner.
Why does the second sentence use keiner instead of keinen?
In the first sentence, the campsite is the direct object receiving the action, so it takes the accusative masculine form einen Campingplatz. In the second sentence, the verb is ist (is). The verb sein (to be) always uses the nominative case instead of accusative. Because Campingplatz is masculine, the standalone negative pronoun in the nominative case needs the -er ending, making it keiner.
Wait, shouldn't it just be kein?
If you were putting the word right in front of the noun, you would use kein, as in Hier ist leider kein Campingplatz. But here, the word none completely replaces the noun so we don't have to repeat it. When kein acts as a replacement pronoun for a masculine noun in the nominative case, it takes the strong ending -er and becomes keiner.
Why is the verb ist placed before leider and keiner?
This is because of the strict verb-second rule in German statements. Since the sentence starts with the adverb Hier (Here) in position one, the verb ist must immediately follow in position two. This pushes the adverb leider (unfortunately) and the subject keiner to the end of the sentence.
How do we know the gender of Campingplatz?
Campingplatz is a compound noun. In German, the gender of a compound noun always comes from its last part. Since der Platz (the place or square) is masculine, der Campingplatz is also masculine.
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