Learn Hardcore German: Es gibt nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte, wenn du ehrlich bist. - There is nothing that I could not forgive you if you are honest.

Es gibt nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte, wenn du ehrlich bist.

There is nothing that I could not forgive you if you are honest.

Breakdown of Es gibt nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte, wenn du ehrlich bist.

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Questions & Answers about Es gibt nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte, wenn du ehrlich bist.

Why does the sentence start with Es gibt? Could I also say Da ist or Es ist?

Es gibt is the standard way in German to say there is / there are in a general, existential sense.

Es gibt nichts … = There is nothing … (in general, as a statement about what exists / is possible)
Da ist … = There is … over there (more spatial, pointing to a place or situation)
Es ist … = It is … (describing a specific thing already known)

In this sentence we’re talking about the existence of something to forgive, in a very general way, so Es gibt nichts … is the natural choice.

Da ist nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte is understandable but sounds less idiomatic and more like you’re pointing at a situation.
Es ist nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte would mean It is nothing that I couldn’t forgive you for and needs a clear preceding context for es (“it”). It no longer has the same general, open-ended feeling as Es gibt nichts ….

So for a broad statement like this, Es gibt is best.

What exactly does the nichts, was … structure do?

nichts, was … literally means nothing that … and introduces a relative clause that describes or restricts nichts.

nichts = nothing
was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte = that I could not forgive you for

Together:
Es gibt nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte …
= There is nothing that I could not forgive you for …

So nichts is a very broad word (“nothing”), and the was … part specifies what kind of “nothing” we’re talking about: nothing that would be unforgivable for me.

Why is the relative pronoun was and not das or dem or was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte?

German uses was as a relative pronoun in a few specific cases. One of them is after indefinite pronouns like:

alles (everything)
nichts (nothing)
etwas (something)
viel, wenig (much, little)

So:

alles, was … = everything that …
nichts, was … = nothing that …
etwas, was … = something that …

That’s why we get:

nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte

You can also say:

nichts, das ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte

Using das here is grammatically correct and a bit more formal / written.
Using was is very common and sounds a bit more natural in spoken German.

You cannot use a case-marked article or pronoun like dem here, because nichts is neuter and the relative pronoun needs to match that pattern. The standard options after nichts are was (very common) or das (more formal).

Is nichts … nicht verzeihen a double negative? Does it cancel out the negation, like in English?

In English, I can’t not forgive you has a strange, almost positive meaning (I must forgive you). Learners therefore worry about German double negatives.

In this German sentence, you have:

nichts = nothing
nicht verzeihen = not forgive

But this is not the same type of double negative as in informal English. German generally allows multiple negatives without them cancelling each other logically.

The structure here is:

Es gibt nichts = There is nothing
… was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte = … that I could not forgive you for

Logically, the whole thing means:

There is no thing for which I could fail to forgive you.
⇒ I can forgive you for anything.

So it is still a single “global” negation (there is no such thing). The nicht belongs only to verzeihen inside the clause; nichts belongs to es gibt. They don’t cancel each other; they each negate different parts of the statement and together express complete willingness to forgive.

Why is the verb at the end in … was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte?

Because … was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte is a subordinate clause, specifically a relative clause introduced by was.

General rule in German:

Main clause (Hauptsatz): finite verb in the 2nd position
- Ich verzeihe dir alles.
Subordinate clause (Nebensatz): finite verb at the end
- …, was ich dir verzeihen könnte.

So in your sentence:

Relative pronoun: was
Subject: ich
Indirect object (dative): dir
Negation: nicht
Full verb: verzeihen
Auxiliary/modal in Konjunktiv II: könnte (finite verb → goes to the end)

Order in the subordinate clause:
was – ich – dir – nicht – verzeihen – könnte

That’s normal German word order for a clause introduced by was.

Why is it dir and not dich after verzeihen?

The verb verzeihen (to forgive) takes a dative object, not an accusative object.

jemandem verzeihen = to forgive someone (dative)
- Ich verzeihe dir. = I forgive you.
- Ich verzeihe ihm. = I forgive him.

So in the clause:

ich = subject (nominative)
dir = indirect object (dative)
(etwas) = the thing that is forgiven (often left out)

If you said dich, that would be accusative and would sound wrong with verzeihen, because verzeihen does not take an accusative person object.

Compare:

Ich verzeihe dir alles. (correct)
Ich entschuldige mich bei dir. (different verb + different construction)
Ich vergebe dir alles. (also takes dative: jemandem vergeben)

What nuance does könnte add here compared to kann? Why is it not verzeihen kann?

könnte is the Konjunktiv II (subjunctive II) form of können and expresses something like:

hypotheticals
willingness / potential
a softened, less absolute statement

Compare:

Es gibt nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen kann.
= There is nothing I am (in principle) able to forgive you for.
→ Feels a bit more technical, about ability.
Es gibt nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte.
= There is nothing I could not forgive you for.
→ Emphasizes readiness / willingness, often emotional, slightly more hypothetical and softer.

In this emotional context (forgiveness, honesty), könnte sounds more natural and heartfelt, like saying in English:

There’s nothing I couldn’t forgive you for (as long as you’re honest).

Why is it wenn du ehrlich bist and not wenn du ehrlich wärst?

Both are grammatically possible, but they have different meanings:

wenn du ehrlich bist
- real, concrete condition
- if you are honest (in reality, in this situation)
- The speaker means: As long as you actually are honest, I can forgive you anything.
wenn du ehrlich wärst
- unreal / hypothetical condition (Konjunktiv II)
- if you were honest (but you probably aren’t / weren’t)
- Often implies that the condition is not met or is doubtful.

So in your sentence:

wenn du ehrlich bist = a genuine promise: under the real condition of honesty, I forgive you.

If you said wärst, it could sound like a complaint:

There is nothing I couldn’t forgive you for — if only you were honest (which you apparently are not).

Can wenn du ehrlich bist go at the beginning of the sentence? What changes then?

Yes, you can put the wenn-clause first. Then the word order in the main clause must adjust to keep the verb in second position.

Original:

Es gibt nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte, wenn du ehrlich bist.

Fronted wenn-clause:

Wenn du ehrlich bist, gibt es nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte.

Changes:

The wenn-clause moves to the front.
In the main clause that follows, the finite verb gibt must be in 2nd position.
Therefore we say gibt es nichts …, not es gibt nichts … after the wenn-clause.

Meaning and nuance are almost the same; starting with Wenn du ehrlich bist puts more emphasis on the condition.

Why are there commas before was and before wenn?

German has relatively strict comma rules with subordinate clauses.

Comma before was
- was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte is a relative clause describing nichts.
- Relative clauses are always separated by commas.
  → Es gibt nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte …
Comma before wenn
- wenn du ehrlich bist is a subordinate clause (a conditional clause).
- Subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like wenn, weil, dass, obwohl always get commas.
  → …, wenn du ehrlich bist.

So:

Es gibt nichts, [relative clause] was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte, [subordinate clause] wenn du ehrlich bist.

Both commas are mandatory in standard written German.

Could I replace verzeihen with vergeben? What is the difference between verzeihen and vergeben?

Yes, you can say:

Es gibt nichts, was ich dir nicht vergeben könnte, wenn du ehrlich bist.

Both verzeihen and vergeben mean to forgive, and in many contexts they can be interchanged.

Subtle differences:

verzeihen
- Very common in everyday language.
- Often used in personal, interpersonal contexts.
- Pattern: jemandem (etwas) verzeihen (dative)
vergeben
- Slightly more formal or elevated in some uses.
- Also: jemandem (etwas) vergeben (dative)
- Strongly associated with religious or moral language in some contexts (e.g. Gott vergibt).

In your sentence, verzeihen sounds particularly personal and emotionally warm. vergeben is correct but might sound a bit more formal or solemn depending on context. Native speakers would very often choose verzeihen in this type of promise.

Why is it just ehrlich and not something like ehrlicherweise or an adverb ending in -lich / -ly?

German adjectives often serve both as adjectives and as adverbs, without changing form.

ehrlich = honest (adjective) / honestly (adverb)

Examples:

Er ist ehrlich. = He is honest.
Er spricht ehrlich. = He speaks honestly.

You do not add an extra ending like -lich or -ly to make an adverb, the way you do in English.

There is also ehrlicherweise, but it means something slightly different, like English honestly speaking / to be honest and is used more like a sentence adverb:

Ehrlicherweise muss ich sagen, dass …
= To be honest, I must say that …

In this sentence we simply need the predicate adjective after sein:

du bist ehrlich → wenn du ehrlich bist
(if you are honest)

What does the wenn du ehrlich bist clause modify exactly? The verzeihen part or the whole sentence?

Functionally, wenn du ehrlich bist gives the condition under which the main statement holds true.

The main statement is:

Es gibt nichts, was ich dir nicht verzeihen könnte.
= There is nothing that I could not forgive you for.

By adding:

…, wenn du ehrlich bist.

we’re saying:

Under the condition that you are honest, there is nothing I couldn’t forgive you for.

So logically, the wenn-clause applies to the whole main statement, not only to the small verb phrase verzeihen könnte. It restricts when that whole promise is valid.