Half of learning how to speak German involves describing what things “are not” as much as it is describing “what is.” To be abundantly clear in communication, Germans decided to split up their negation into two terms. You get to decide to use kein vs. nicht (or “not any” vs. “not”) when crafting the perfect German sentence to convey your thoughts and opinions. Learn what the difference is between kein vs. nicht and how to use them in different contexts as you read below.
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Understanding the meanings of kein vs. nicht
Both of the terms kein (not any) and nicht (not) are used as a way for how to say “no” in German, specifically to negate different parts of speech. Just like we’ve made a distinction in English between “hearing” and “listening,” the method for how to negate in German has similarly been split up between different terms.
Though English uses the word “not” or “not any,” the German language has assigned special words for both terms for clarity. Learning when to use kein or nicht in German is important to grammatical accuracy, which is useful in casual gatherings as well as in professional meetings with your new German client.
When to use nicht in German
Nicht (not) is mainly used in German to negate parts of speech that aren’t a noun, such as an adverb, adjective, or any other part of speech you might choose to say “no” to. For instance, you can say Er geht nicht zur Party (He is not going to the party) and use nicht to negate the verb geht (goes).
You may also use nicht to negate around nouns under these circumstances:
- preceded by a definite German article like der (the, masculine), die (the, feminine), or das (the, neuter)
- Ich habe den Ball nicht gefangen. = I have not found the ball.
- the noun follows a possessive pronoun like mein (my) or dein (your)
- Nein. Das ist nicht mein Hut. = No. That is not my hat.
- a proper noun like Berlin or Elvis
- Nein, ich heiße nicht Elvis. = No, my name is not Elvis.
Generally, nicht is the most common way to negate parts of a sentence in the German language as opposed to kein (not any), which is only used for certain contexts of nouns.
How to use nicht in a German sentence
Deciding where to place nicht (not) in a German sentence depends on the structure of the sentence itself. In main clauses, for example, the word nicht is simply placed after the conjugated verb and before the object or other parts of the sentence to which the verb is referring, like in the sentence Wir gehen nicht einkaufen (We do not go shopping).
There are a few more special cases that alter where you get to place nicht in your German conversations and writing that you’ll want to review.
In sentences with separable German verbs
Nicht is placed between the two parts of a separable German verb—after the core verb but before its separated prefix. For example, in Wir kaufen nicht ein (We do not buy), nicht splits the two parts of the verb einkaufen (to purchase). You’ll also see that the prefix is moved to the end of the sentence.
With modal verbs
In sentences with German modal verbs, you’ll simply place nicht before the infinitive, which is the base, unchanged form of a verb. Normally, it will be found at the end of the sentence. In the example Du darfst nicht rausgehen (You may not go outside), nicht is placed before the infinitive rausgehen (to go out) and after the conjugated modal verb durfen.
When auxiliary verbs are used
In perfect tenses where auxiliary verbs like haben (to have) and sein (to be) are used, nicht should be placed right in front of the past participle of the sentence. The past participle is easy to spot because it will typically start with ge- and end in -en or -t—it’s just a past tense version of the verb. For example, in the sentence Ich habe nicht geschwommen (I have not been swimming), nicht is found just before the past participle geschwommen (swam).
When to use kein to negate in German
Choose the word kein (not any) only when you want to negate certain nouns. These nouns that require kein for negation will
- have no article
- Nein danke. Ich brauche kein Pflaster. = No thanks. I do not need a bandage.
- use kein as an indefinite article
- Trag heute keine kurze Hose! = Do not wear shorts today!
- say something doesn’t exist
- Nein. Wir haben keinen Durst. = No. We are not thirsty. (literally, we have no thirst.)
- refer to having “none” or “not any” of something
- Kein Ball ist rot. = None of the balls are red. (literally, no ball is red.)
Since kein is only used to negate some nouns, you can consider it as an option if a noun is being negated. Otherwise, if the thing being negated is some other part of speech, like an adverb or adjective, you don’t need to worry about analyzing the context or using kein. In those cases, nicht is the right verb.
Tips for forming a sentence with kein
To negate a sentence with kein (not any), you will simply need to place the word kein directly in front of the noun you’re wanting to negate. While the placement in the sentence is an easy thing to master for the word kein, you’ll also have to adjust the ending of kein in order to make it agree with the noun you’re negating in terms of German case, grammatical gender in German, and number. This is called “declension” and is an important skill to master within German grammar.
See how to decline kein in any situation with the handy table below:
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
| nominative | kein | keine | kein | keine |
| accusative | keinen | keine | kein | keine |
| dative | keinem | keiner | keinem | keinen |
| genitive | keines | keiner | keines | keiner |
Here are a few practical sentence examples showing the declension of kein in each of the German cases:
- Ich bin kein Lehrer. = I am not a teacher. (nominative)
- Die Männer haben keinen Reis. = The men do not have any rice. (accusative)
- Sie hilft keinem Nachbarn, der unfreundlich ist. = She doesn’t help any neighbor who is unfriendly. (dative)
- Die Unterstützung keiner Studentin war sichtbar. = The support of no student was visible. (genitive)
On the other hand, when there is no noun in sight, kein can step up into this role as a pronoun such as “none,” “someone,” or “each.” In this case, kein isn’t the determiner before a noun, but rather it acts like a noun. That means it declines a little differently to show case, grammatical gender, and number.
Take a look at the table here to see how kein declines when it is used as a pronoun:
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
| nominative | keiner | keine | keines | keine |
| accusative | keinen | keine | keines | keine |
| dative | keinem | keiner | keinem | keinen |
| genitive | keines | keiner | keines | keiner |
If you want to see examples of what it looks like when kein is used as a pronoun in a sentence, read the practical German phrases below:
- Keine der Tassen ist aus Papier. = None of the cups are paper (nominative)
- Wir haben keine gefunden. = We found none. (accusative)
- Ich gebe keiner die Schuld. = I blame no one. (dative)
- Die Farbe keines passt. = The color of none fits. (genitive)
Frequently asked questions about using kein vs. nicht
German language learners are often confused by the distinctions between the different ways to negate as they learn German. Here are the three most frequently asked questions and answers about using kein vs. nicht:
Is it ever correct to say nicht ein instead of kein?
Yes, in some cases where you want to emphasize the number “one,” you can say nicht ein (not one) rather than kein (not any). Saying nicht ein in a sentence stresses “not even one” or “not a single.” For example, Nicht ein Mensch hat geholfen (Not a single person helped) emphasizes this point. While you can also say Kein Mensch hat geholfen (No man helped), choosing nicht ein shows your own disappointment that there wasn’t even one person helping.
Do you use kein or nicht with prepositional phrases?
You always use nicht (not) to negate a prepositional phrase in German. Because prepositional phrases are built around definite articles and fixed prepositions like mit (with) and auf (on), negating them means negating something other than a noun, like a German verb or adjective. Since we only use kein (not any) to negate nouns, nicht is the only grammatically correct way to negate a prepositional phrase. This is an easy trick to remember—when you see a prepositional phrase, reach for nicht!
Are there regional differences or dialects in using kein vs. nicht?
The many dialectal variants and German slang for the words kein (not any) and nicht (not). Depending on your definitions, there are hundreds of dialects in Germany, typically broken down by region and geographical elevation.
See the chart below to experience the different ways German-speaking countries and regions pronounce kein and nicht:
| Region/Dialect | Kein Variation | Nicht Variation |
| Bavaria (Bairisch) | koa/koan | ned/net |
| Austria (Österreichisch) | ka/kan | ned/net |
| Switzerland (Schweizerdeutsch) | kei | nöd |
| Berlin/Brandenburg | keen | nich |
| Northern Germany (Plattdeutsch) | keen/keen’t | nich/nich’t |
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