Learn Hardcore Dutch: De poster is niet oud, maar nieuw.

Niet serves as the negation marker in the sentence. It specifically negates the adjective oud (old), making it clear that the poster does not have the quality of being old. This sets up a contrast with the succeeding positive attribute, nieuw (new).

What does maar mean, and why is it used here?

Maar translates to "but" in English. It is used to introduce the contrasting idea that follows the negation. Here, after stating that the poster is not oud, maar nieuw emphasizes that it is, in fact, new.

Why is there a comma before maar in the sentence?

The comma before maar is used to clearly separate the two contrasting parts of the sentence. It helps the reader distinguish between the negation of one quality (being old) and the affirmation of another (being new). While punctuation rules can vary, this comma is a common stylistic choice in Dutch when setting up a contrast.

Why is the definite article de used with poster, even though poster is a loanword from English?

In Dutch, every noun is assigned a grammatical gender and an accompanying article. Although poster is borrowed from English, it is fully integrated into Dutch grammar. In this case, it takes the definite article de, which is typical for many common nouns referring to objects.

Why are oud and nieuw placed after the verb is rather than directly before the noun?

In Dutch, adjectives that describe the subject’s state, known as predicate adjectives, come after the linking verb. This construction is similar to English (e.g., "The poster is old/new"). In this sentence, oud and nieuw function as predicate adjectives modifying the subject after the verb is.