Negation in German with KEIN and NICHT

In this Q&A-style video, Mark and Andrea from Coffee Break German answer learner Ewan's question about how to when to use the words 'kein' and 'nicht' in German. In order to help us understand the difference between the two words, Andrea takes us through a series of examples showing their use in context.
Here are the phrases included in this video:
• ich tanze nicht
• er ist nicht groß
• das schmeckt nicht gut
• das ist kein Buch, das ist ein Heft
• ich habe kein Brot
• ich habe nicht viel Brot
Make sure you watch the full video to hear the specific contexts in which you use 'kein' and 'nicht'. We've provided subtitles in English which can be turned on using the Subtitles/CC button.
We've provided subtitles in English which can be turned on using the Subtitles/CC button.
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[@saraisverytired3174]

das hat mir sehr geholfen! Vielen Dank!

[@zaneheuer8079]

This makes a lot more sense, thank you!

[@coffeebreaklanguages]

We're so glad that you found it useful ☺

[@BearVodkaAndValenki]

Very informative, thanks a lot!

[@christophechevillard]

Ich habe ein Thema, und das ist, was ist die Bedeutung und Verwendung des Wortes "je". Danke euch viel Mals.... Liebe diese kleine deutschgramatik Videos. Ausgezeichnet!

[@coffeebreaklanguages]

Hallo! "Je" is part of "je.....desto". "Je....desto" means "the.....the", as in, "Je mehr die Sonne scheint, desto wärmer ist es" = "The more the sun shines, the warmer it is". Hope this helps!

[@terr4c0]

Danke ❤

[@LM-fi2kv]

I get confused about where to put NICHT in a sentence (before or after the word)

[@terr4c0]

After a verb and before an adjective/adverb, I guess.

[@reneldapinky4334]

sehr hilfreich..danke sehr

[@peterwilkins7013]

But in 'Ich habe Bröt' there is a verb: to have. So in 'I don't have any bread' why isn't the verb being negated? In English you can say either 'I don't have any bread' or 'I have no bread'. Can you do this in German?

[@coffeebreaklanguages]

Hallo, Peter! That is a very good question and you are right, in English you can negate this sentence by using "no bread" or "do not have bread". In German, however, we would use "kein" to make this sentence negative. I know that it can be hard to decide when to use what, especially since every sentence also has a verb. What can help is to think about the positive sentence first "Ich habe (ein) Brot". "kein/e" is almost like the opposite to "ein/e" and if you want to negate that part of the sentence (the bread), then you just replace "ein" with "kein". Ich hope that helps 😊

[@trevorboyd1570]

In the last example: "ich habe nicht viel brot" can we also view it that the "nicht" negates the verb (as stated at the beginning). So it means "I don't have ..." rather than "I have not much..."?

[@coffeebreaklanguages]

Hallo! In this example, the "nicht" negates "viel", not "habe", so you could say "ich habe nicht viel Brot, sondern wenig" ("I don't have much bread, but I do have a little"). Hope this helps!

[@moroccandeepweb5880]

Maybe we can think of 'kein' as a combination of 'nicht' and 'ein'. Ist das annehmbar?

[@coffeebreaklanguages]

Yes. We can think of "kein" as "not any" or "not a" :)

[@conan7422]

No bread: kein Brot A bread: ein Brot Not red: nicht rot If its not then it is nicht and If its no something then it is kein something

[@Fritz357]

Also nicht is used with verbs and Kein is used with nouns

[@conan7422]

@@Fritz357 Ja, dat klopt. Oui, c'est ça.