Where does niet go?

The pattern

In a neutral sentence, niet comes after the verb in second place, after known people and things, and after time words like vandaag. It comes before the verbs at the end, adjectives and most phrases with a preposition, such as naar huis.

• After a pronoun or a definite object (a specific person or thing: a name, or a noun with de, het, deze, mijn and so on): Ik ken Bas niet.
• After ordinary time expressions such as vandaag, morgen and gisteren: Ik zie hem vandaag niet.
• With frequency words such as altijd and vaak, the position changes the meaning: Ik werk niet altijd means "I don't always work".
• Before the verbs at the end, including the second part of a separable verb (a verb that splits in two, like terugbellen): Ik heb hem niet gezien. Ik bel je niet terug.
• Before an adjective after zijn: Het is niet duur.
• Before most place phrases and other phrases with a preposition (a small word like naar, in or op plus a noun): Ik ga niet naar huis.
• Short place words such as hier and daar usually come before niet, unless you stress them for contrast: Ik woon hier niet.
• Directly before one word you want to deny, usually followed by maar and the right word: Niet Anna, maar Tom.

With een or no article, Dutch usually says geen instead of niet. That is the next lesson: Geen or niet?

Examples

Why it works this way

Think of a Dutch sentence as having a front and a back. The front holds the background: who, the verb, the people or things involved, and when. The back holds the part that completes the meaning: gezien, komen, mee, duur, naar huis. A neutral niet sits on the border between the two and denies the whole action.

This fits what you saw in Time, manner, place: time comes early, so it lands before niet; a place phrase like naar huis comes late, so it usually lands after it. Short words like hier and daar count as background, so they slip in front: Ik woon hier niet. The second part of separable verbs waits at the very end, after niet.

When you move niet in front of one word, it denies only that word. That is why Ik heb niet Anna gebeld sounds unfinished on its own: a Dutch listener waits for maar Tom.

English keeps "not" close to the first verb ("I have not seen him"), and Spanish and Arabic put the negative right before the verb. Dutch lets the object and time words go first. If you speak German, good news: niet mostly sits where nicht does. Speakers sometimes shift things for emphasis, but this is the order to learn first.

Remember: niet lets the known things pass first (who, what, when, and little words like hier) and then stands guard in front of the ending.

Watch out

• FalschIk niet werk vandaag.

  RichtigIk werk vandaag niet.

  in a main clause, niet follows the verb in second place

• FalschIk heb niet gezien hem.

  RichtigIk heb hem niet gezien.

  the object goes before niet, the participle goes to the very end

• FalschHet is duur niet.

  RichtigHet is niet duur.

  niet goes before the adjective

• FalschIk ga naar huis niet.

  RichtigIk ga niet naar huis.

  niet goes before a place phrase with naar

• FalschIk neem mijn jas mee niet.

  RichtigIk neem mijn jas niet mee.

  the separable part stays last, after niet

Quick check

Use it today

Say three true sentences about your own day out loud: one with a time word (Ik werk vrijdag niet.), one with a verb at the end (Ik heb de afwas niet gedaan.) and one with a place (Ik ga vandaag niet naar de supermarkt.). Swap in your own details.