Breakdown of Wir kochen zu Hause, damit er den Ausschlag nicht bekommt.
er
he
wir
we
kochen
to cook
nicht
not
Questions & Answers about Wir kochen zu Hause, damit er den Ausschlag nicht bekommt.
Why does nicht come right before the verb bekommt at the end?
In a subordinate clause (started by damit), the conjugated verb is pushed to the very end. Because we are negating the entire action of getting the rash, nicht goes as close to the end of the clause as possible, landing right in front of the verb bekommt.
Could we place nicht before den Ausschlag instead?
Grammatically yes, but it changes the meaning. Placing nicht right before a noun usually negates just that specific noun. Saying ...damit er nicht den Ausschlag bekommt sounds like a contrast: he will not get the rash, but he might get something else! Putting nicht right before the verb negates the action itself, which is what we want here.
We learned that um ... zu also means 'in order to'. Why is damit used here instead?
You can only use um ... zu when the subject is exactly the same in both halves of the sentence. Here, the first subject is wir (we cook) and the second subject is er (he does not get). Because the subjects are different, you must use damit.
Why is it den Ausschlag and not der Ausschlag?
The noun Ausschlag (rash) is masculine. In this clause, er (he) is the subject and the rash is the direct object that he is getting. Direct objects take the accusative case, so the masculine der changes to den.