Ontkenning: niet en geen
The two ways Dutch says no — geen before a noun without an article, niet everywhere else — and where in the sentence niet stands.
Choosing between the two is a one-line rule most learners get quickly. Placing niet is not: Dutch puts it late in the sentence, after the time and the object but before the thing being negated, and the position changes what the sentence means. This is the only grammar topic on the A2 list that costs marks in reading as well as writing, because a single overlooked niet reverses the answer.
How the exam tests this
It matters in two parts at once. In Lezen it is a question type in itself: a notice reading `U kunt hier niet online betalen` puts the words "online betalen" in front of you as an option, and the whole question is the niet. In Schrijven you need it to decline, to explain what went wrong and to correct a misunderstanding — the three things short messages exist for — and a niet in the wrong place is read as the wrong sentence rather than as a slip.
What is wrong with this sentence?
Ik kan niet donderdag komen.
Most candidates write it exactly like this and lose the mark without knowing why.
The rest of this lesson
The rule, the worked examples, the exceptions and what to do in the exam room open with Mastery, together with every other lesson for this exam.
See plans