Breakdown of Das mache ich auf keinen Fall.
ich
I
machen
to make, to do
auf keinen Fall
absolutely not, no way
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Questions & Answers about Das mache ich auf keinen Fall.
Why does the sentence start with Das and say mache ich instead of ich mache?
Starting the sentence with Das emphasizes it: "THAT, I will not do." Because German verbs must stay in the second position, the subject (ich) has to swap places with the verb (mache) and come right after it.
What does auf keinen Fall literally mean?
Literally, it translates to "on no case" or "in no case." It is a very common fixed phrase used to mean "under no circumstances," "no way," or "absolutely not."
Why does keinen end in -en here?
The preposition auf requires the accusative case in this expression. Since Fall (case or instance) is a masculine noun (der Fall), the negative word kein takes the masculine accusative ending -en to become keinen.
The translation says "I will absolutely not do that," but isn't mache present tense?
Yes, mache is the present tense. In German, the present tense is very often used to talk about the future, especially when expressing a firm intention like in this sentence.