German Phrase
Das Problem ist noch nicht gelöst.
Meaning
The sentence means ‘The problem hasn’t been solved yet.’ It conveys that a solution is expected in the future, but at the moment the issue remains unresolved.
When to use
Use this phrase in work meetings, project updates, or casual conversation when you want to report that an issue is still pending a solution. It is common in both formal written reports and spoken German.
✦Grammar Breakdown
DasProblemistnochnichtgelöst.
Definite article (Das)
‘Das’ is the neuter nominative singular article, used here because ‘Problem’ is a neuter noun.
Noun gender (Problem)
‘Problem’ is a neuter noun (das Problem); its case is nominative as it is the subject of the sentence.
Verb ‘sein’ (ist)
‘ist’ is the 3rd‑person singular present of ‘sein’ and is used as the auxiliary for the passive voice with a past participle.
Negation with ‘noch nicht’
‘noch nicht’ means ‘not yet’; it is placed before the participle to indicate that the action is expected to happen later.
Past participle (gelöst)
‘gelöst’ is the past participle of ‘lösen’ (to solve) and forms a passive construction with ‘sein’: ‘ist gelöst’ = ‘is solved’.
🗨In Conversation
Wie steht es mit dem Server‑Ausfall?
How is the server outage going?
Das Problem ist noch nicht gelöst, wir arbeiten daran.
The problem hasn't been solved yet, we are working on it.
✕Common Mistakes
Das Problem ist noch gelöst nicht.
‘nicht’ must come before the participle; ‘Das Problem ist noch gelöst nicht’ is incorrect.
Das Problem ist nicht noch gelöst.
Placing ‘noch’ after ‘nicht’ changes the meaning; ‘Das Problem ist nicht noch gelöst’ sounds like ‘the problem is not still solved.’
Das Problem ist noch nicht lösen.
Using the infinitive ‘lösen’ instead of the past participle breaks the passive construction.
↔Alternatives
Wir haben das Problem noch nicht gelöst.
We haven't solved the problem yet.
Das Problem ist noch offen.
The problem is still open.
Das Problem ist noch nicht behoben.
The problem has not been fixed yet.
Cultural Tip
German often prefers the passive construction ‘ist … gelöst’ in formal contexts, especially in technical or business communication. In everyday speech you might hear the active version ‘Wir haben das Problem noch nicht gelöst.’ Also, placing ‘noch nicht’ before the participle is essential; moving it after sounds unnatural.