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I had been on Wattpad for some time now. However, this is my first time publishing anything.
I had learned German some years back. But I couldn't complete it. I got busy with...
There are different ways to negate expressions in German. Firstly the most simple way to do so is to "say no"/nein.
We have read in chapter "Asking Simple Question" how to ask questions which answer in yes/no. For example:
Is it cold? / Es ist kalt?
Yes, it is cold. / No, it is not cold. / No, it is warm.
Ja, es ist kalt /Nein, es ist nicht kalt. /Nein, es ist warm.
Nein is mainly used to negate a sentence which can be answered with either a yes/no.
The German adverb nicht (not) is also used very often, but sometimes you need to use kein (not a).
Nicht is used in following situations:
1. Nicht negates a noun that has a definite article.
Das ist nicht der Junge.
That is not the boy.
Das ist nicht das Buch, das ich brauche.
That is not the book that I need.
2. Nicht negates a noun that has a possessive pronoun.
Das ist nicht mein Glas.
That is not my glass.
Das istnichtmein Auto.
That is not my car.
3. Nicht negates a verb.
Er schwimmt nicht.
He doesn't swim.
Nein, Maria kommt nicht.
No, Maria is not coming.
Ich spiele nicht, sondern lerne für den Test.
I do not play but study for the test.
4. Nicht negates an adverb.
Ichtanzenicht oft.
I don't dance often.
5. Nicht negates an adjective. When an adjective is part of a verb, then also use nicht.
Diese Banane ist nicht reif.
This banana is not ripe.
Mein Auto ist nicht rot.
My car is not red.
We can see that nicht tends to change its place in sentences a lot. Adverbs end up in different places in different languages. You cannot simply place the German adverb nicht where you would put "not" in English.
Generally nicht goes at the end of the sentence; however, nicht also goes before a specific word which is the subject to be negated, rather than the whole sentence.
Kommt dein Freund morgen?
Is your friend coming tomorrow?
Nein, meine Freundin kommt nicht, sondern der Freundin meiner Mutter kommt.
No, my friend is not coming, but my mother's friend is coming.
In the same sentence to emphasize that it's not my friend that is coming rather it's my mom's friend that is coming we can put nicht before meine Freundin.
Nein, nicht meine Freundin kommt, sondern der Freundin meiner Mutter kommt.
Position of nicht will be based on following:
1. before an adjective
2. before an adverb
There will be an exception for the adverbs used to organize chronologically e.g. morgen (tomorrow), heute (tomorrow).
Er kann heute nicht kommen
He can't come today.
3. before a preposition
Preposition are those words that keep words or phrases together e.g. for (Für), over (Über), under (unter)
Das Buch ist nicht unter dem Tisch.
The book is not under the table.
4. Before the infinitive verb in statements involving a "modal" verb. können (to be able to)
Er kann nicht schwimmen.
He can't swim.
5. before a verb prefix, where a separable verb is involved, e.g. anrufen (to phone).
Wir rufen uns nicht an.
We don't phone each other.
Kein is used when we have to negate a noun with indefinite article or no article.
Hast du irgendwelche Bücher? Ich habe keine Bücher.
Do you have any books? I have no books.
Kein can also be used as none when the noun is to be replaced.
Hast du irgendwelche Bücher? Ich habe keine.
Do you have any books? I have none.
You must also have noticed how keine is used instead of kein in above examples that is because here the books are plural. Kein tend to be "declined" like ein. You can refer to the table in chapter Case II where we talked about changes in ein in different cases. Kein in Plural will change according to feminine in all cases.
kein
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There are also other ways to negate in a sentence. We can say never, none, nobody, neither and so one we will cover them in another chapter.
For now keep practicing. Stay safe. Bis später. Tschüss.
