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Negation in German sounds daunting, but at A1 level it comes down to a single decision: you have two words, kein and nicht, and you pick one based on what you're negating.

kein replaces or negates a noun. nicht negates verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and anything else. Get that choice right, and you've already handled the vast majority of negation you'll ever need at this level.

For nouns kein No / none / not a / not any. Negates a noun that would otherwise take ein, eine, or no article.
Ich habe kein Auto. Sie hat keine Zeit. Wir haben keinen Hunger.
For everything else nicht Not. Negates verbs, adjectives, adverbs, names, pronouns, and nouns with a definite article.
Ich schlafe nicht. Das Wetter ist nicht gut. Das ist nicht Anna.
1

kein — Negating Nouns

Think of kein as the negative twin of ein. Wherever you would use ein, eine, or no article at all (bare nouns like Kaffee or Zeit), you swap in the correct form of kein to negate it.

The quick test: Can you put "a" or "an" in front of the equivalent English noun? Or is there no article at all in German? If yes to either — use kein.

The ein → kein flip

ein Hund (a dog)
→
kein Hund (no dog)
eine Katze (a cat)
→
keine Katze (no cat)
Geld (money — no article)
→
kein Geld (no money)
Kaffee (coffee — no article)
→
keinen Kaffee (no coffee — accusative)

kein endings — Nominative & Accusative

Because kein behaves exactly like ein, it takes the same endings. For A1, you only need to know two cases.

Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Nominative kein Hund keine Katze kein Buch keine Bücher
Accusative keinen Hund keine Katze kein Buch keine Bücher
Only one ending changes: masculine accusative gains an -en — kein becomes keinen. Everything else stays the same between Nominative and Accusative.

Ready-to-use examples

  • Das ist kein Problem. That is not a problem.
  • Ich habe keine Schwester. I have no sister.
  • Wir haben keinen Hunger. We have no hunger — we are not hungry.
  • Ich habe keine Kinder. I have no children.
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nicht — Negating Everything Else

Nicht is the all-purpose negation word. Unlike kein, it never changes form — it always looks exactly the same. What changes is where you place it, which is the part most learners find tricky.

Use nicht in all of these situations:

  • Ich schlafe nicht. / Ich arbeite heute nicht. To negate a verb — I don't sleep. / I'm not working today.
  • Das Wetter ist nicht gut. / Der Film ist nicht interessant. To negate an adjective — The weather is not good.
  • Das ist nicht der Mann. / Das ist nicht meine Tasche. To negate a noun with der/die/das or a possessive — you can't use kein here.
  • Das ist nicht Anna. / Das ist nicht ich. To negate a name or pronoun.
  • Ich komme nicht heute. / Ich wohne nicht in Berlin. To negate an adverb or prepositional phrase.
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Where Does nicht Go?

Position is the trickiest part of nicht, but three rules cover almost every A1 sentence you'll encounter.

1
Negating the whole sentence → nicht goes to the end
Ich komme nicht. — I'm not coming.
Ich verstehe nicht. — I don't understand.
Wir spielen heute nicht. — We are not playing today.
2
Negating a specific word → nicht goes directly before it
Es ist nicht teuer. — It's not expensive. (before the adjective)
Ich fahre nicht oft mit dem Bus. — I don't take the bus often. (before the adverb)
Ich bin nicht in der Schule. — I'm not in school. (before the phrase)
3
In a full sentence → nicht comes after verb & time, but before place
Ich arbeite nicht in Zürich. — I don't work in Zurich.
Ich esse heute nicht im Restaurant. — I'm not eating at the restaurant today.
Remember the classic A1 order: Time → Manner → Place. Nicht slots in just before the manner or place element — so it falls after any time words like heute or jetzt.
4

kein vs nicht — Side by Side

These two sentences look almost identical in English but require different words in German. The difference lies in what you're actually negating.

Use kein
Ich habe kein Auto.
I have no car at all.
Negating the noun Auto — you're saying the car simply doesn't exist in your life.
Use nicht
Das ist nicht mein Auto.
That is not my car.
Negating a possessive — the car exists, it's just not yours. You cannot say kein mein Auto.
Quick decision rule: Is there a definite article (der / die / das) or possessive (mein, dein…) in front of the noun? → nicht. Is it ein / eine, or no article? → kein.

The Bonus Word: doch

One extra word that will immediately make you sound more natural.

!
When someone asks a negative question

If someone asks you a negative question — one containing nicht or kein — and your answer is "yes, actually", you cannot use ja. You must use doch. It is the one word that pushes back against a negative assumption.

Ist das nicht dein Buch?
Is that not your book?
Doch! Das ist mein Buch.
Yes it is! (contradicting the negative)
Magst du keinen Kaffee?
Don't you like coffee?
Doch, ich mag Kaffee!
Actually, I do like coffee!

Answering with nein would confirm the negative. Answering with doch corrects it. This is a uniquely German distinction that English doesn't have — master it and you'll immediately sound natural to native speakers.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

These are the three errors that come up most at A1. See the pattern and they become easy to catch.

✗ Incorrect
Ich bin kein müde.
✓ Correct
Ich bin nicht müde.
müde is an adjective — adjectives always take nicht, never kein.
✗ Incorrect
Ich mag nicht Kaffee.
✓ Correct
Ich mag keinen Kaffee.
Kaffee is a bare noun (no article) — bare nouns and ein-nouns always take kein. Also note the accusative ending: keinen.
✗ Incorrect
Das ist nicht ein Hund.
✓ Correct
Das ist kein Hund.
Never use nicht ein together. Whenever you're tempted to say "not a", switch straight to kein.

Quick Practice

Type kein, keine, keinen, or nicht into each blank, then press Check Answers.

kein or nicht?

Choose the correct negation word — and watch the kein endings. Press Enter or click Check Answers when you're done.

  1. 1 Ich habe Schwester.
    Schwester (f) is a bare noun — no article. Which word? What ending for feminine?
  2. 2 Das Wetter ist gut.
    gut is an adjective. Which negation word goes before adjectives?
  3. 3 Wir haben Hunger.
    Hunger (m) is a bare noun used as a direct object (accusative). Watch the ending!
  4. 4 Das ist meine Tasche.
    meine is a possessive — you can't use kein in front of a possessive.
  5. 5 Ich wohne in Berlin.
    You're negating a prepositional phrase (in Berlin). Which word goes directly before it?
  6. 6 Das ist Problem.
    Problem (n) is neuter. You're saying "not a problem" — which word, and what ending?

Study Tips

Three habits that make kein and nicht automatic.

  • 1 Ask "what am I negating?" before you speak. One second of mental check — noun with no article or ein? → kein. Anything else? → nicht. Run this check consciously for a few weeks until it becomes instinct.
  • 2 Practise the flip from positive to negative. Take sentences you already know and negate them out loud. Ich habe Zeit → Ich habe keine Zeit. Er ist müde → Er ist nicht müde. Five flips a day builds solid intuition fast.
  • 3 Treat keinen as its own word. The masculine accusative ending trips up many learners. When you write keinen on a flashcard, don't write kein + en — just write keinen as one unit and associate it directly with masculine direct objects.