I want to answer the question “Gehen Sie abends oft aus ?” and say that I don’t like to go out at evenings. I am confused where to put nicht in my answer. I know that nicht has to negate oft so it must come before it.
Is it valid then to say the following?
Nein, ich gehe abends nicht oft aus.
This is the sentence that you want to negate:
Ich gehe abends oft aus.
I often go out at evening.
There are two possible positions to insert »nicht« to negate the sentence. It's before »oft« and behind »oft« (same in english):
Ich gehe abends nicht oft aus.
I don't often go out at evening.
This is the most usual way. But there is also a second position where »nicht« is allowed:
Ich gehe abends oft nicht aus.
I often don't go out at evening.
In this second case you often want to at some additional information:
Ich gehe abends oft nicht aus, weil ich es mir nicht leisten kann.
I often don't go out at evening because I can't afford it.
