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Kein and nicht

ladida
New in Town
Posts: 8
Joined: April 5th, 2010 7:13 am

Kein and nicht

Postby ladida » November 4th, 2010 7:13 am

Hi, i'm just a bit confused on when to use "kein" or "nicht" ....i'm getting the impression they both make it a negative sentence but i don't understand when to use which one? I'm sorry if this is a stupid question...thanks from Casey.
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Salivia_Baker
Established Presence
Posts: 92
Joined: June 25th, 2008 8:21 pm

Postby Salivia_Baker » November 29th, 2010 10:21 am

both are used like "not" or "no" in english.

It's not a yellow car = es ist kein gelbes Auto.
I do not know = Ich weiß (es) nicht.

kein is only used in front of a noun. (-> see here
Ich habe keine Ahnung (I have no idea)
Das weiß doch kein Mensch (nobody knows that).

It's also explained in Beginner Lesson S2 #38 - How Many Ways Can You Say 'No' in German?!
Last edited by Salivia_Baker on November 30th, 2010 9:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
"German is basically a Lego language - just take word blocks like Welt and Schmerz, smash them together, and you've got some real Weltschmerz. It may sound painful, but it can be practical." - Dan Hamilton
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ladida
New in Town
Posts: 8
Joined: April 5th, 2010 7:13 am

Postby ladida » November 30th, 2010 3:28 am

Salivia_Baker wrote:both are used like "not" or "no" in english.

It's not a yellow car = es ist kein gelbes Auto.
I do not know = Ich weiß (es) nicht.

kein is only used in front of a noun. (-> <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kein">see here</a>)
Ich habe keine Ahnung (I have no idea)
Das weiß doch kein Mensch (nobody knows that).

It's also explained in Beginner Lesson S2 #38 - How Many Ways Can You Say 'No' in German?!


Thanks, i'll check out that lesson, i have not got there yet so i'm hoping it doesn't matter that i listen out of order.
Thanks again, :)
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Salivia_Baker
Established Presence
Posts: 92
Joined: June 25th, 2008 8:21 pm

Postby Salivia_Baker » December 4th, 2010 1:15 am

ladida wrote:Thanks, i'll check out that lesson, i have not got there yet so i'm hoping it doesn't matter that i listen out of order.
Thanks again, :)


it shouldn't matter if you listen to them out og order. Especially not if you just listen for the explanation for kein and nicht.

Too bad the grammar bank doesn't have an entry about it (at least not that I could see).
"German is basically a Lego language - just take word blocks like Welt and Schmerz, smash them together, and you've got some real Weltschmerz. It may sound painful, but it can be practical." - Dan Hamilton
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ladida
New in Town
Posts: 8
Joined: April 5th, 2010 7:13 am

Postby ladida » December 4th, 2010 2:46 am

Salivia_Baker wrote:
ladida wrote:Thanks, i'll check out that lesson, i have not got there yet so i'm hoping it doesn't matter that i listen out of order.
Thanks again, :)


it shouldn't matter if you listen to them out og order. Especially not if you just listen for the explanation for kein and nicht.

Too bad the grammar bank doesn't have an entry about it (at least not that I could see).

Hey, okay cool.
I will download the lesson to my itunes..and check out the explanation of kein & nicht.
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Salivia_Baker
Established Presence
Posts: 92
Joined: June 25th, 2008 8:21 pm

Postby Salivia_Baker » December 4th, 2010 11:19 am

If you have still some questions after that, you know where to ask :)
"German is basically a Lego language - just take word blocks like Welt and Schmerz, smash them together, and you've got some real Weltschmerz. It may sound painful, but it can be practical." - Dan Hamilton
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