kein & nicht
kein und nicht
kein and nicht are the two basic German negation words: kein negates a noun (Ich habe kein Auto), nicht negates everything else.
kein or nicht — German has two separate ways to say “not”. English makes the same split without you noticing: “I have no car” but “the car is not new”. German makes you choose in every sentence. The decision takes three seconds: is the thing you are negating a noun, or not?
One question: are you negating a noun?
ShortcutIf there is a noun with no article (or with ein), use kein; otherwise nicht. Three seconds: are you negating a noun, or a verb?
One question decides it: are you saying “no” or “not”? If a noun is missing (“no car”), it is kein; for everything else it is nicht.
Ich habe kein Auto.
I have no car. → the noun itself is missing
Das Auto ist nicht neu.
The car is not new. → the adjective is negated
Ich habe nicht ein Auto.
Wrong — there is no nicht ein here; that is kein.
Build the shortcut like this: kein = nicht + ein, fused into one word (compare English no = not a). That is why the two never stand side by side.
The three-second decision flow
- 1 · Is the thing you are negating a noun? If not → nicht.
- 2 · If it is a noun: does it have ein/eine in front of it, or no article at all? → kein.
- 3 · Is there der/die/das or mein/dein in front of the noun? → nicht.
| Positive | Negative | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ich habe ein Auto. | Ich habe kein Auto. | ein → kein |
| Ich trinke Kaffee. | Ich trinke keinen Kaffee. | noun without article → kein |
| Ich habe das Auto. | Ich habe das Auto nicht. | definite article → nicht |
| Das ist mein Buch. | Das ist nicht mein Buch. | possessive → nicht |
| Ich komme heute. | Ich komme heute nicht. | no noun → nicht |
You can hear the difference in the meaning too: kein Auto = I don’t have a car at all. das Auto nicht = not that car (some other one). The English split between “no” and “not” follows the same line.
kein declines — like ein, but it has a plural too
kein declines exactly like ein. One difference: ein has no plural, kein does — because “none at all” is something you need to say about plurals too (no cars).
| der (masculine) | die (feminine) | das (neuter) | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | kein | keine | kein | keine |
| Akkusativ | keinen | keine | kein | keine |
| Dativ | keinem | keiner | keinem | keinen |
In the Akkusativ only the masculine changes — just like ein → einen, der → den. That is why it is Ich trinke keinen Kaffee (der Kaffee) but Ich trinke keine Milch (die Milch).
The same endings work for mein · dein · sein · ihr. Once the kein table is in your head, you have solved five words at once.
Where nicht goes — the real problem
The position of nicht is not fixed, but the rule is intuitive: it goes to the end of the sentence — except that it stands in front of these five things.
| nicht stands in front of | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| an adjective / a word describing a state | Ich bin nicht müde. | I’m not tired. |
| an infinitive at the end | Ich kann heute nicht kommen. | I can’t come today. |
| Partizip II (Perfekt) | Ich habe nicht gearbeitet. | I didn’t work. |
| a separated prefix | Ich rufe dich nicht an. | I’m not calling you. |
| a place / direction phrase | Ich gehe nicht ins Kino. | I’m not going to the cinema. |
Sum the pattern up in one sentence: nicht goes immediately to the left of the sentence’s “closing piece”. If there is no such piece, it drops to the very end: Ich komme heute nicht.
Time information stands before nicht: Ich komme heute nicht. Reverse it (nicht heute) and the meaning changes: “not today (but tomorrow)”. So it is not wrong, but you are saying something else.
Five traps
Jobs and nationalities: kein
Ich bin kein Lehrer.
I’m not a teacher.
Ich bin nicht Lehrer.
It trips the ear — Germans don’t say this.
Jobs, nationalities and religions are used without an article in German (Ich bin Lehrer) — and a noun without an article is negated with kein. English keeps “a” here (“I’m a teacher”), which is why this catches people. The rule is not new; it is step 2 of the flow.
kein ≠ nichts
Ich habe nichts gegessen.
I ate nothing. → a pronoun standing alone
Ich habe kein Brot gegessen.
I ate no bread. → a noun follows
nichts is “nothing” and stands on its own. kein attaches to a noun. The same logic applies to people: niemand (nobody) stands alone, kein Mensch goes with the noun.
Saying “yes” to a negative question: doch
— Kommst du nicht? — Doch!
— Aren’t you coming? — Yes, I am!
— Kommst du nicht? — Ja.
Confusing — “yes, I’m not coming” or “yes, I’m coming”?
German has a special word for contradicting a negative question: doch. English has no single word for it — you have to add “I am!” — so English speakers instinctively say ja and are misunderstood.
Two negatives don’t stack
Ich habe nie Zeit.
I never have time.
Ich habe nie keine Zeit.
Wrong — the same mistake as “I don’t have no time”.
Some languages mark negation twice, and English slang does too (“I ain’t got no time”). Standard German marks it once. nie · nichts · niemand · nirgendwo are already negative, so you never add kein/nicht next to them.
Contrastive negation: nicht moves forward
Ich fahre nicht heute, sondern morgen.
I’m going not today but tomorrow.
If you negate one single element instead of the whole sentence, nicht moves in front of that element and is usually followed by sondern. This is not a rule violation — it is deliberate emphasis.
What you just learned
Ich habe ___ Zeit.
Show the answer
keine. Zeit is a feminine noun without an article, so keine is used.
Das ist ___ mein Buch.
Show the answer
nicht. There is a possessive (mein) in front of the noun — a specific thing is being talked about, so it is nicht.
— Hast du keine Zeit? — ___ , ich habe Zeit!
Show the answer
Doch. When you contradict a negative question you say doch, not ja — English has no one-word equivalent, so it is the word learners skip most often.
What to do this week
The mistakes here don’t come from not knowing the rule — they come from the decision taking too long. The way to shorten it is to build the same sentence in two forms.
- Ich habe kein … — three things you don’t have
- Das ist nicht … — three things that aren’t true
- Ich bin kein … — one thing you are not (a job or type)
When you hesitate in a sentence, ask yourself: am I saying “no” or “not”? No → kein. Not → nicht. This two-word check works faster than the whole table.
Build the sentence yourself
Tap the words and put them in order. This is the hardest part of German — and there are no options to pick from, you build it.
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tap the words
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tap the words
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tap the words
Know this before the test
The core of the topic in three lines, then the mistakes people make most often.
- kein negates nouns, nicht the rest
Noun without an article or with ein → kein. Verb, adjective, definite noun → nicht.
kein Auto · nicht mein Buch
- nicht moves toward the end
When you negate the verb: Ich komme heute nicht. When you negate a specific element, it goes in front of it: nicht mein Buch.
Ich kann heute nicht kommen.
- Answer a negative question with Doch!
Hast du keine Zeit? — Doch! (of course I do). Ja stays ambiguous here.
Doch, ich habe Zeit!
- No double negatives
nichts · niemand · nie are already negative; you don’t add nicht. “Not any more” = nicht mehr.
Ich sehe niemanden.
Ich trinke nicht Kaffee.
Ich trinke keinen Kaffee.
A bare noun needs kein.
Das ist kein mein Buch.
Das ist nicht mein Buch.
A noun with a possessive takes nicht.
Ich sehe nicht niemanden.
Ich sehe niemanden.
You don’t stack two negatives.
Hast du keine Zeit? — Ja! (when you mean “I DO have time”)
— Doch!
You contradict a negative question with doch.
Test yourself
Tap an answer — we will look at why together.
Ich trinke Kaffee.
I don’t drink coffee.
Das ist mein Buch.
This isn’t my book.
Ich bin Lehrer.
I’m not a teacher.
— Hast du keine Zeit? — , ich habe Zeit!
Don’t you have time? — …, I do have time!
Which one is correct?
Where does nicht go in the sentence? — “I’m not coming today.”
Practice done — –
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Negation worksheet
This whole page — tables, traps, examples — as one PDF. Download it, print it, run through it before the exam.
Related topics
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Akkusativ & Dativ
the full article table
Accusative vs dative: what actually changes, and what never moves at all.
Modal verbs
Ich will Deutsch lernen
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