Wir rauchen nicht im Auto.

We do not smoke in the car.

Breakdown of Wir rauchen nicht im Auto.

• das Auto: the car
• wir: we
• nicht: not
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter)

Questions & Answers about Wir rauchen nicht im Auto.

Why is it wir?

Wir means we. It is the subject of the sentence—the people doing the action.

So in Wir rauchen nicht im Auto, wir tells you who is involved: we.

Why is the verb rauchen and not raucht or rauche?

Because the subject is wir (we), the verb has to match that subject.

The verb is rauchen = to smoke.

Its present-tense forms are:

• ich rauche = I smoke
• du rauchst = you smoke
• er/sie/es raucht = he/she/it smokes
• wir rauchen = we smoke
• ihr raucht = you all smoke
• sie/Sie rauchen = they/you (formal) smoke

So with wir, the correct form is rauchen.

Why is the verb in the second position?

In a normal German main clause, the conjugated verb usually comes in position 2. This is often called the V2 rule.

Here the sentence is:

• Wir = position 1
• rauchen = position 2
• nicht im Auto = the rest

So Wir rauchen nicht im Auto follows standard German word order.

Why is nicht placed before im Auto?