Shades of meaning with nicht-negation in Deutsch ? I have this sentence, Die Studenten sitzen im Lesesaal. (The students sit in the reading area.) I'm trying to apply the rules for nicht-negation. I believe the relevant rules are: 1. When a verb is being negated, the nicht follows after the conjugated verb. 2. When an adverbial describing place (or time) is being negated, the nicht follows after the adverbial describing place (or time). So if I am negating the verb, I get Die Studenten sitzen NICHT im Lesesaal. (The students are not sitting (verb negated), although the students are in the reading area. (that they are in the reading area, remains a positive statement).) If I instead negate the place. Die Studenten sitzen im Lesesaal NICHT. (The students are sitting, but wherever they may sit, it's not in the reading area.) Are these correct meanings for these negations? (I've added words to the translation, since I need more words in English to clarify the meaning I'm thinking of.) Subtle yet profound? or over-analysed?