Breakdown of In dieser Wohnung darf man kein Haustier haben.
in
in
haben
to have
kein
no, not any
die Wohnung
the apartment
Questions & Answers about In dieser Wohnung darf man kein Haustier haben.
Why is it dieser and not diese Wohnung?
The preposition in is a "two-way" preposition. Because we are talking about a fixed location (where something is happening) and not a movement to a new place, it takes the dative case. Since Wohnung is a feminine noun, the dative ending for diese becomes dieser.
Why does the verb darf come before the subject man?
In German main clauses, the conjugated verb must always be in the second position. Because the sentence starts with the phrase In dieser Wohnung (position 1), the verb darf (position 2) has to come immediately after it, pushing the subject man to the third position.
Why is the translation "you may not", but the German uses man?
The German pronoun man means "one" or "people in general." In English, we usually say "you" to express general rules like this. If you used du, it would mean the speaker is talking to one specific person, rather than stating a general rule for the apartment.
Why do we use kein Haustier instead of nicht ein Haustier?
In German, when you want to negate a noun that would normally have an indefinite article (ein or eine) or no article at all, you must use kein. You use nicht to negate verbs, adjectives, or nouns with definite articles.