Learn Hardcore German: Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein, sondern sich für andere zu freuen. - She tries not to be envious but to be happy for others.

Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein, sondern sich für andere zu freuen.

She tries not to be envious but to be happy for others.

Breakdown of Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein, sondern sich für andere zu freuen.

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Questions & Answers about Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein, sondern sich für andere zu freuen.

Why is there a comma after versucht?

The comma after versucht separates the main clause from an infinitive clause with zu:

Main clause: Sie versucht
Infinitive clauses: nicht neidisch zu sein, sondern sich für andere zu freuen.

In modern German spelling, a comma can be used before an expanded infinitive clause (an erweiterter Infinitiv mit zu), and it is usually recommended, especially when the clause is longer or complex.

So both are correct:

Sie versucht nicht neidisch zu sein. (without comma)
Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein. (with comma – clearer and stylistically preferred here)

In your sentence, because the infinitive part is long and has a contrast (sondern ...), the comma improves readability and is typically used.

What does zu do in zu sein and zu freuen?

Zu turns the verbs sein and freuen into infinitive phrases that depend on versuchen.

zu sein ≈ “to be”
sich zu freuen ≈ “to rejoice / to be glad”

Structure:

Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein.
→ She is trying not to be jealous.
... sondern sich für andere zu freuen.
→ but rather to be happy for others.

In German, verbs like versuchen, anfangen, aufhören, hoffen, etc. usually take an infinitive with zu, similar to English to + verb. The zu goes directly in front of the infinitive verb (sein, freuen); everything else comes before it:

nicht neidisch zu sein
sich für andere zu freuen

Why is it nicht neidisch zu sein and not neidisch nicht zu sein?

Nicht normally comes right before what it negates. Here, what’s being negated is the adjective neidisch (jealous):

nicht neidisch = “not jealous”

So the natural order is:

nicht neidisch zu sein = “not to be jealous”

The variant neidisch nicht zu sein is technically possible but feels unusual and awkward; it would also put extra emphasis in a strange place. Native speakers almost always say:

Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein.

What is the difference between Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein and Sie versucht nicht, neidisch zu sein?

The position of nicht changes the meaning:

Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein.
→ She is trying not to be jealous.
Here, nicht negates neidisch zu sein (the state of being jealous).
Sie versucht nicht, neidisch zu sein, sondern sich für andere zu freuen.
→ She is not trying to be jealous, but (is trying) to be happy for others.
Here, nicht negates versucht (the act of trying to be jealous).

So:

Sie versucht, nicht X zu sein = she tries not to be X.
Sie versucht nicht, X zu sein = she does not try to be X.

Your original sentence clearly means the first one.

Why is sondern used instead of aber?

In German, sondern and aber are both often translated as but, but they’re not interchangeable.

You use sondern when:

the first part is explicitly negated (usually has nicht, kein, nie, etc.), and
the second part presents a contrasting alternative that replaces the first.

Example from your sentence:

nicht neidisch zu sein, sondern sich für andere zu freuen
→ not to be jealous, but rather to be happy for others (instead)

If you wrote:

..., aber sich für andere zu freuen,

it would sound wrong here, because aber adds or contrasts without explicitly replacing what was negated.

Rule of thumb:

nicht A, sondern B = not A, but B instead (correction, replacement)
A, aber B = A, but B as well / in contrast (no direct replacement)

What does sich freuen mean, and why is sich needed?

Sich freuen is a reflexive verb in German, meaning roughly:

sich freuen = “to be glad / to be happy / to rejoice”

The reflexive pronoun sich refers back to the subject:

Ich freue mich. – I am glad.
Du freust dich. – You are glad.
Er/Sie freut sich. – He/She is glad.
Wir freuen uns. – We are glad.
Ihr freut euch. – You (pl.) are glad.
Sie freuen sich. – They are glad.

In your sentence:

... sondern sich für andere zu freuen.
The subject is still Sie, so the matching reflexive pronoun is sich (3rd person singular or plural).

You cannot leave sich out; freuen almost always appears with a reflexive pronoun in this meaning.

Why is it sich für andere freuen and not sich über andere freuen?

Both exist, but they mean different things:

sich für jemanden freuen
= to be happy for someone, to share in their joy, to be glad on their behalf.
→ Sie freut sich für andere. – She is happy for other people.
sich über etwas/jemanden freuen
= to be happy about something/someone, e.g. a gift, good news, a visit.
→ Sie freut sich über das Geschenk. – She is happy about the present.

In your sentence, the contrast is specifically with jealousy towards other people. She’s trying:

not to be jealous of others, but
to be happy for them instead.

That’s exactly what sich für andere freuen expresses.

What is the nuance of neidisch? Is it “jealous” or “envious”?

Neidisch corresponds more closely to envious in English:

neidisch = feeling envy because someone else has something good (success, possessions, good luck, etc.).

For romantic or possessive jealousy (when you’re afraid of losing a partner to someone else), German usually uses:

eifersüchtig = (romantically) jealous

Examples:

Sie ist neidisch auf ihre Kollegin.
She is envious of her colleague.
Er ist eifersüchtig auf ihren Ex-Freund.
He is jealous of her ex-boyfriend.

In your sentence, neidisch refers to general envy of other people’s good fortune or advantages, not romantic jealousy.

Why is it für andere without any article, and what does andere mean here?

andere here is a pronoun meaning others or other people.

für andere = “for others / for other people”

No article is used because we’re speaking in general, about people in general, not a specific, defined group:

Sie freut sich für andere.
She is happy for others (people in general).

With an article it would be more specific:

für die anderen = for the other (specific) ones
für andere Leute = for other people (a bit more explicit, but still general)

In your sentence, für andere is short and natural, and it clearly means “for other people” in a general sense.

Could the sentence be rephrased with other structures, like statt or anstatt?

Yes, you can rephrase the contrast in a few natural ways. For example:

Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein, sondern sich für andere zu freuen.
(original)

Similar meaning:

Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein, sondern sich für andere zu freuen, wenn ihnen etwas Gutes passiert.
(adds a bit of context)

Using statt / anstatt:

Sie versucht, sich für andere zu freuen, statt neidisch zu sein.
Sie versucht, sich für andere zu freuen, anstatt neidisch zu sein.

These mean roughly:
“She tries to be happy for others instead of being jealous.”

The focus shifts slightly (from “not jealous, but happy” to “happy instead of jealous”), but the overall idea is the same.

Why is the verb versucht in the simple present, even though in English we’d say “is trying”?

German generally does not have a separate -ing (progressive) tense like English. The Präsens (simple present) covers both:

Sie versucht
can mean:
- “She tries” (in general, habitually)
- “She is trying” (right now, at this time in her life)

Context decides whether the appropriate English translation is tries or is trying.

So in your sentence, depending on context, both translations are fine:

“She tries not to be jealous, but to be happy for others.”
“She is trying not to be jealous, but to be happy for others.”

Is Sie here “she” or polite “you”? How do I know?

Isolated, Sie is ambiguous in writing:

sie (lowercase in the middle of a sentence) = she or they
Sie (capitalized) = polite you (singular or plural)
At the beginning of a sentence, Sie is always capitalized anyway, which makes it ambiguous between she/they and polite you.

In your sentence, without context, Sie could grammatically mean:

She tries not to be jealous...
They try not to be jealous...
You (formal) try not to be jealous...

In most teaching contexts, this sentence is usually understood as “She”, but strictly speaking, only a wider context would disambiguate it.

Could I say Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein, sondern freut sich für andere instead?

That version is not ideal because it mixes structures awkwardly.

Your original sentence is parallel:

Sie versucht,
- nicht neidisch zu sein,
- sondern sich für andere zu freuen.

Both parts after sondern are infinitive groups depending on versucht, so they’re nicely balanced:
nicht [A] zu sein, sondern [B] zu ...

If you write:

Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein, sondern freut sich für andere.

then:

the first part (nicht neidisch zu sein) depends on versucht (infinitive group),
the second part (freut sich für andere) is a finite verb with its own conjugated form (freut).

That breaks the parallel structure and sounds stylistically off. More natural alternatives:

Sie versucht, nicht neidisch zu sein, sondern sich für andere zu freuen. (your original)
Sie ist nicht neidisch, sondern freut sich für andere. (no “tries”, just a statement of fact)

If you want freut sich as a finite verb, it’s better to drop versucht and adjust the sentence accordingly.