Learn Hardcore German: Ich möchte heute nicht mehr lernen.

möchte (from mögen, subjunctive) = “would like”
- more polite, softer, less direct
- sounds a bit like a wish or preference
- Ich möchte heute nicht mehr lernen. ≈ “I’d rather not study anymore today.”
will (from wollen) = “want (to)” in a strong, direct way
- expresses firm intention or determination
- Ich will heute nicht mehr lernen. ≈ “I don’t want to study anymore today,” with a more definite, sometimes stubborn tone.

Both are grammatically correct; the difference is nuance and politeness. In most everyday situations where English uses “I don’t want to…”, German often prefers möchte or würde gern / würde lieber to sound less blunt.

Why is möchte in second position and lernen at the end?

This is standard German word order with a modal verb:

In a main clause, the conjugated verb must be in second position (the “V2 rule”).
With a modal verb (like möchte), the modal is the conjugated verb and goes in position 2.
The main action verb (the infinitive, here lernen) goes to the end of the clause.

So the structure is:

Subject: Ich
Conjugated verb (modal): möchte
Middle field (objects, adverbs, negation, etc.): heute nicht mehr
Infinitive at the end: lernen

→ Ich | möchte | heute nicht mehr | lernen.

What exactly does nicht mehr mean here?

nicht mehr literally means “no more / not anymore / no longer.”

In this sentence:

It negates continuation: the person has been learning or could learn more, but chooses to stop now.
With heute, it implies “for the rest of today”:
- Ich möchte heute nicht mehr lernen.
  ≈ “I don’t want to study anymore today / I don’t want to study any further today.”

Compare:

Ich möchte heute nicht lernen.
→ I don’t want to study today at all.
Ich möchte heute nicht mehr lernen.
→ I don’t want to study any more today (maybe I did earlier, or I’m just stopping now).

Could I say kein mehr instead of nicht mehr?

No. kein and nicht are used in different situations:

kein negates nouns:
- Ich habe kein Geld. – I have no money.
- Ich habe keine Zeit. – I have no time.
nicht negates verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or whole clauses:
- Ich lerne nicht. – I’m not studying.
- Ich lerne heute nicht. – I’m not studying today.

mehr (“more/anymore”) is an adverb here, so you must use nicht mehr, not kein mehr:

✅ Ich möchte heute nicht mehr lernen.
❌ Ich möchte heute kein mehr lernen. (incorrect)

Is heute nicht mehr one unit, like “anymore today”, or is it “today / not anymore” separately?

Grammatically, heute and nicht mehr are separate elements:

heute = time adverb (“today”)
nicht mehr = negation + adverb (“no longer / not anymore”)

But in meaning, they naturally group together as “not anymore today”. The position suggests that the “not anymore” applies specifically to today.

If you stress it when speaking, you’d usually say:

Ich möchte HEUTE nicht mehr lernen. – focusing on today.
Or Ich möchte heute NICHT MEHR lernen. – focusing on the “no more” part.

Both are understood as “no more learning for today.”

Could I move heute or nicht to another place, like in English?

German word order in the “middle field” (between the finite verb and the last verb) is more restricted than English. Some moves are possible, some sound wrong or very marked:

Standard:
- Ich möchte heute nicht mehr lernen. (normal)
You can also say:
- Ich möchte nicht mehr heute lernen.
  This is grammatically possible but sounds unusual and marked; it puts heavy focus on heute as the time limit and is rarely used in everyday speech.
Clearly wrong:
- ❌ Ich möchte heute lernen nicht mehr.
- ❌ Ich möchte nicht heute mehr lernen.

In practice, for neutral speech, you should keep heute nicht mehr together in the order given:

Ich möchte heute nicht mehr lernen.

What’s the difference between lernen and studieren here? Could I say studieren?

Both can translate as “to study,” but they’re used differently:

lernen = to learn/study in general:
- school homework
- revising for an exam
- learning vocabulary, skills, etc.
studieren =
1. To be enrolled and study a subject at university:
  - Ich studiere Physik. – I study physics (as my degree).
2. Less often: to study something in a more academic, in-depth way.

In this sentence, you’re talking about today’s learning activity (e.g., homework, revision), so lernen is the natural verb:

✅ Ich möchte heute nicht mehr lernen.
Ich möchte heute nicht mehr studieren. sounds like “I don’t want to pursue my university studies any longer today,” which is a bit odd unless you specifically mean university-level work and that context is clear.

Is möchte a tense (like present or future) or something else?

möchte is:

the Konjunktiv II (subjunctive II) form of mögen, used idiomatically as a modal verb.
It expresses a polite or softened desire, similar to English “would like”.

Tense-wise, it’s used as part of a construction that usually refers to the present or near future, depending on context:

Ich möchte heute nicht mehr lernen.
→ The decision is now, about what happens for the rest of today (present + near future).

So grammatically it’s a subjunctive form, but functionally you can think of it as a polite, present-time modal like “would like (to).”

Could I say Ich mag heute nicht mehr lernen instead of Ich möchte…?

You can, but it’s not the same:

möchte = “would like to” / “want (politely)”
- focuses on intention / wish.
mag (from mögen) = “like” (physically or emotionally)
- Ich mag Schokolade. – I like chocolate.
- Ich mag lernen. – I like learning.

When you say:

Ich mag heute nicht mehr lernen.

…it’s closer to “I don’t feel like learning anymore today” or “I don’t like the idea of learning anymore today.” It emphasizes dislike / lack of desire, not just a neutral decision to stop.

Ich möchte heute nicht mehr lernen. is the most natural way to say “I don’t want to study anymore today” in a neutral, polite tone.

If I want to be very direct or even a bit stubborn, how would I say this instead?

You’d usually use will instead of möchte:

Ich will heute nicht mehr lernen.
→ Very direct: “I don’t want to study anymore today.”

Depending on tone/intonation, this can sound:

firm, matter-of-fact, or
a bit stubborn, especially from a child or teenager.

You can also reinforce it:

Ich will heute wirklich nicht mehr lernen. – I really don’t want to study anymore today.
Ich will heute auf keinen Fall mehr lernen. – I definitely don’t want to study anymore today / Under no circumstances do I want to study more today.

Can heute be moved to the beginning, like in English “Today I don’t want to…”?

Yes, very naturally. German often puts time expressions at the beginning:

Heute möchte ich nicht mehr lernen.

Structure:

Heute (time adverbial) moves to the first position.
The verb möchte must still be in second position (V2 rule).
The subject ich moves after the verb.

Both versions are correct and common:

Ich möchte heute nicht mehr lernen.
Heute möchte ich nicht mehr lernen.

The second version puts a bit more emphasis on “today”.

How would I say “I never want to study again,” not just “not anymore today”?

You’d make two changes:

Remove heute (today).
Replace nicht mehr (not anymore) with nie mehr (never again) or nie wieder.

Examples:

Ich möchte nie mehr lernen. – I don’t ever want to study again.
Ich möchte nie wieder lernen. – Same meaning, very common phrase.

These express a permanent “never again,” not just for today.

How would this change in the past tense? For example: “I didn’t want to study anymore today.”

You’d usually use the Präteritum of the modal verb:

Ich wollte heute nicht mehr lernen.

Breakdown:

wollte = simple past of will (not of möchte; möchte usually stays in present).
It means: “I didn’t want to study anymore today” (at that time).

If you specifically want to keep the softer “would like” feeling in a reported-past context, you can also use:

Ich habe heute nicht mehr lernen wollen.
(perfect tense, more formal/explicit, often in written German)

But in everyday spoken German, for telling a story about earlier today or yesterday, you’d most often use:

Ich wollte heute nicht mehr lernen.