Negation

It is called negation because it negates a statement. This is expressed by negation words like nicht (not), kein (no), weder (neither)... noch (nor), nichts (nothing), niemand (nobody) etc.

In general, one can deny or affirm a statement:

Bist du Julias Schwester? - Nein. (Are you Julia's sister - No)

Sind Sie Herr Zimmermann? - Ja. (Are you Mr. Zimmerman? - Yes)

Options for negation

There are 3 main options for negation:

Negation	Example
NEIN	„Willst du ein Eis?“ - „Nein!“ (Do you want ice cream? No!)
KEIN	„Ich möchte kein Eis!“ (I don't want ice cream!)
NICHT	„Ich mag Eis nicht so gerne!“ (I don't like ice cream that much!)

Use of NEIN

„Nein“ is only used to answer questions.

Examples:

"Hast du du deinen Autoschlüssel gefunden?“ - Nein. (Did you find your car key? - No!)

Bist du fertig? - Nein. (Are you ready? - No!)

Use of KEIN

„Kein“ is only used to negate nouns without an article and nouns with an indefinite article.

„Kein“ must be declined like a possessive article.

Examples:

„Hast du Durst?“ – „Ich habe keinen Durst.“ (Are you thirsty? - I'm not thirsty)

„Das ist ein Hund.“ – „Das ist kein Hund.“ (It's a dog. - It's not a dog)

"Hat er eine Schwester? - "Nein, er hat keine Schwester." (Does he have a sister? - No, he doesn't have a sister)

Declension of KEIN

	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Genitive
masculine	kein Mann (man)	keinen Mann	keinem Mann	keines Mannes
feminine	keine Frau (woman)	keine Frau	keiner Frau	keiner Frau
neutral	kein Kind (child)	kein Kind	keinem Kind	keines Kindes
plural	keine Sterne (stars)	keine Sterne	keinen Sternen	keiner Sterne

Use and position of NICHT

All other cases are denied with „nicht“. This means that verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, proper names, nouns with definite articles and possessive articles, clauses, and entire sentences are negated with "nicht".

Verbs/Whole sentences

If the main verb is negative, the whole sentence becomes negative.

„Ich kaufe das Auto nicht.“ (I do not buy this car)

If an auxiliary verb or a modal verb is used in addition to the main verb, "not" always comes before the main verb.

„Ich habe das Auto nicht gekauft.“ (I didn't buy the car)

Adjective

„Nicht“ comes before the adjective to be negated.

„Ich bin schlau.“ – „Ich bin nicht schlau.“ (I'm smart. - I'm not smart)

Pronouns

„Nicht“ comes before the pronoun that is to be negated.

„Ich wollte nicht dich anrufen, sondern Sabrina.“ (I didn't mean to call you, I did call Sabrina)

Proper names

„Nicht“ comes before the proper noun to be negated.

„Das ist nicht Alex. Das ist Tom!“ (That's not Alex. That's Tom!)

Statements and additions with a preposition

„Nicht“ comes before the preposition.

„Ich komme nicht zu deiner Party.“ (I'm not coming to your party)

„Ich bin nicht bei meiner Tante.“ (I'm not with my aunt)

„Er kommt nicht vor 22 Uhr nach Hause.“ (He doesn't come home until 10 p.m)

Nouns with definite and possessive articles

This usage is very rare and occurs almost exclusively in combination with „sondern“.

„Nicht“ precedes the article.

„Er hat nicht seinen Schlüssel, sondern ihren.“ (He doesn't have his key, he has hers)

„Er hat nicht das Auto, sondern das Fahrrad bezahlt.“ (He didn't pay for the car, he paid for the bike)