Negation in German

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You use negations to form negative sentences in the German language. There are two different ways of forming these sentences by using "nicht" or "kein".

For example:

Sie geht nicht ins Kino - She does not go to the cinema
Du hast keinen Hunger. - You are not hungry

Lesson outline

1.Negation with "nicht"
2.Negation with "kein"
3.Exercises
3.1.Exercise of negative phrases in German
3.2.Exercise negation with "nicht" in German
3.3.Exercise negation with "kein" in German

Negation with "nicht"

We use "nicht" for negation of verbs, nouns, names, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs and place, time and manner.

Nouns: "nicht" comes before the definite article

Ich habe nicht das Paket von Lisa, sondern von Luisa. - I don't have the package from Lisa, but from Luisa
Das ist nicht die Flasche von Mara. - That is not the bottle from Mara

Verbs: "nicht" comes at the ending of a phrase in simple tenses. With compound tenses it is located before the full verb at the end of the sentence.

Sie trinkt nicht. - She does not drink
Er hat gestern morgen nichts getrunken. - Er didn't drink anything yesterday morning

Names: "nicht" is located right in front of the name

Ich habe nicht Maras Flasche. - I don't have Maras bottle
Ich habe nicht Lisas Paket. - I don't have Lisas package

Pronouns: "nicht" stands before the pronoun.

Du hast nicht mich angeredet, sondern meine Freundin? - You didn't talk to me, but my girlfriend?
Wir haben nicht euch gerufen! - We didn't call you!

Adjective: "nicht" comes before the adjective

Losen ist nicht gerecht! - The lottery is not fair
Das Bild ist nicht schön! - The picture is not pretty

Adverbs: "nicht" stands right in front of the adverb

Du gehst nicht gerne ins Meer tauchen. - You don't like diving in the sea
Ich sehe das nicht genauso wie du - I don't see it the same way as you

Place, manner, time: "nicht" stands before the preposition that goes with the indicator of place/time/manner

Wir leben nicht in Deutschland. - We don't live in Germany
Der Bus kommt nicht um 15 Uhr. - The bus does not come at 3
Deine Mama hat den Kuchen nicht mit Mehl gebacken - Your mother didn't bake the cake with flour

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Salah D.

Corina C.

Marko B.

Marwa E.

Agnese G.

Manuela B.

Héloïse Elisabeth D.

Dirk F.

Ruxandra M.

Lena W.

Salah D.

Corina C.

Marko B.

Marwa E.

Agnese G.

Manuela B.

Héloïse Elisabeth D.

Dirk F.

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Negation with "kein"

We use "kein" for masculine and neuter things and "keine" for feminine things. "Keine" has to be declined according to the case of the nouns it is standing with.

For example:

There is no milk in the fridge. - Es ist keine Milch im Kühlschrank.

	feminine	masculine	neuter	plural
nominative	keine Banane	kein Apfel	kein Kind	keine Bananen
genitive	keiner Banane	keines Apfels	keines Kindes	keiner Bananen
dative	keiner Banane	keinem Apfel	keinem Kind	keinen Bananen
accusative	keine Banane	keinen Apfel	kein Kind	keine Bananen

Now, that you have learned about "nicht" und "keine" in German and how to use it you can test your skills with our fun and interactive exercises.

Exercises

Exercise of negative phrases in German
Exercise negation with "nicht" in German
Exercise negation with "kein" in German

Exercise of negative phrases in German

Put the following words together so to construct a negating sentence

For example:

besucht / heute / er / uns
Er besucht uns heute nicht.

1. Frau / kennt / die / er - .

(He doesn't know the woman)

2. den / sie / Leuten / es / geben - .

(They don't give it to the people)

3. wasche / ich / mich - .

(I don't wash myself)

4. sehe / ich / dich - .

(I don't see you)

5. gestern / sie / kamen - .

(They didn't come yesterday)

6. Hose / ich / die / kaufe - .

(I don't buy the pants)

7. es / nimmt / sie .

(She doesn't take it)

8. heute / kauft / es / er - .

(He doesn't buy it today)

9. wir / gestern / liefen .

(We didn't walk yesterday)

10. dem / sie / es / Kind / gab .

(She didn't give it to the kid)

Exercise negation with "nicht" in German

Rewrite the following sentence in the negative form.

For example:

Ich weiß, dass er arbeitet. (I know, that he works)
Ich weiß, dass er nicht arbeitet. (I know, that he doesn't work)

1. Sie sagt, dass er kommen kann. - , .

(She says, that he can't come)

2. Ich hoffe, dass sie es gesehen hat. - , .

(I hope, that she didn't see it)

3. Sie haben gespielt. - .

(They didn't play)

4. Laura hat neben dem Hotel gewartet. - .

(Laura didn't wait next to the hotel)

5. Ich bin dort geblieben. - .

(I didn't stay there)

6. Wir sind ins Schwimmbad gegangen. - .

(We didn't go to the swimming pool)

7. Sie kommt mit uns mit. - .

(She won't come with us)

8. Wir haben hier gewartet. - .

(We didn't wait here)

9. Die Familie fährt heim. - .

(The family doesn't drive home)

10. Wir können es sehen. - .

(We can not see it)

Exercise negation with "kein" in German

Rewrite each of the following sentences in the negative, using "kein". "Kein" has to be declined according to number, case and gender.

For example:

Er hat eine Schwester.
Er hat keine Schwester.

1. Er erzählte eine Geschichte. - .

(He told no story)

2. Sie hat Blumen gekauft. - .

(She bought no flowers)

3. Er trinkt Wasser. - .

(He drinks no water)

4. Ich habe eine warme Jacke. - .

(I have no warm jacket)

5. Wir essen Bananen. - .

(We eat no bananas)

6. Die Kinder singen ein Lied. - .

(The kids sing no song)

7. Ich habe Zeit. - .

(I have no time)

8. Hier liegt ein Buch. - .

(Here lies no book)

9. Das sind Kirschen. - .

(That are no cherries)

10. Sie hat einen Freund. - .

(She has no friend)