Breakdown of Nicht nur die Kiste ist leer, sondern wir haben auch keinen Kleber.
sein
to be
haben
to have
kein
no, not any
wir
we
die Kiste
the box
leer
empty
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
nicht nur ..., sondern auch
not only ... but also
der Kleber
the glue
Questions & Answers about Nicht nur die Kiste ist leer, sondern wir haben auch keinen Kleber.
This lesson is about using welche as an indefinite pronoun. How would we say "but we also have some" if we actually had glue?
You would replace keinen Kleber with welchen. Because der Kleber is a masculine mass noun acting as the direct object (accusative), "some" translates to welchen. The clause would be: sondern wir haben auch welchen.
Why is the word order sondern wir haben and not sondern haben wir?
Sondern is a coordinating conjunction, which means it occupies "position 0" in the sentence. It doesn't count towards the verb position. Therefore, the subject wir is in position 1, and the conjugated verb haben stays in its normal position 2.
Why does auch come after the verb instead of right next to sondern, like in the English "but also"?
In the German nicht nur ..., sondern ... auch (not only ..., but also) structure, the two words in the second half are almost always separated. Sondern joins the clauses at the very beginning, while the adverb auch is placed later in the sentence, typically after the conjugated verb and pronouns.
Why do we use keinen Kleber instead of nicht Kleber?
In German, you negate nouns that lack a definite article (like the mass noun glue) using a form of kein. Since der Kleber is the masculine direct object of the sentence, it takes the accusative ending, becoming keinen.
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