How to use negation in German?

In German, you can use negation words like nicht (meaning not), kein (meaning no, not one), or nein (meaning no!) to make negative statements — to say something isn’t true, to refuse something, or to talk about things that didn’t happen or aren’t happening.

What if you were at a restaurant and the waiter brought you the wrong order or charged you for the wrong item? You would definitely want to let them know, right?

• Entschuldigung, ich habe das nicht bestellt.

  Translation: Excuse me, I didn’t order that.
• Entschuldigung, ich habe keinen Tee bestellt.

  Translation: Excuse me, I didn’t order tea.

  Literally: lit. Excuse me, I ordered no tea.

In this article, we will discuss all about how to negate verbs and nouns as well as some phrases and words that negate statements. And yes… saying simply “no” will be covered as well. Or as my toddler would say Nein, nein, nein! (meaning No, no, no!). Who can relate?

The words nicht (meaning not) and kein (meaning no, not any) are both used to negate elements of a German sentence. Here is the difference:

• kein (meaning no, not any) is used to negate nouns and noun phrases.

• nicht (meaning not) is used everywhere else: to negate verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns etc.

Let’s look at an example to show you how this works! Let’s say we want to negate something in the sentence below.

There are a few different ways you can go about doing that:

• Negate the verb → nicht

  verb

  Wir gehen nicht in ein teures Restaurant.

  Translation: We are not going to an expensive restaurant.

• Negate the adverb → nicht

  adverb

  Wir gehen nicht heute in ein teures Restaurant (sondern morgen).

  Translation: We are going to an expensive restaurant not today (but tomorrow).

• Negate the adjective → nicht

  adjective phrase

  Wir gehen in ein nicht so teures Restaurant.

  Translation: We are going to an inexpensive restaurant.

  Literally: lit. We are going to a not so expensive restaurant.

• Negate the noun phrase → kein

  noun phrase

  Wir gehen in kein teures Restaurant.

  Translation: We are not going to any expensive restaurants.

  Literally: lit. We are going to no expensive restaurant.

And now, let’s explore how to do all the negations above by looking at nicht and kein in more detail.

As we just saw, nicht (meaning not) is mostly used to negate verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns. However, you can also use nicht before a noun with a definite article, as a way to contrast it with something else.

I have some great news, too: nicht is invariable so you’ll only have to learn the rules about when to use it and where to put it. Let’s have a look!

Broadly, nicht comes after a conjugated verb, but before any other element it negates. Read the generalizations and examples below for more detail.

1. When negating a verb, nicht directly follows the verb and any objects it has.

   verbobject'nicht'

   Ich trinke nicht.

   Translation: I don’t drink.

   Ich trinke das nicht.

   Translation: I don’t drink that.

   Ich trinke dieses Getränk nicht.

   Translation: I don’t drink this beverage.

   If you have other elements in your sentence, like past participles, adverbs, infinitives, or prefixes from separable-prefix verbs, you have to place nicht before them.

   • 'nicht'past participle

     Ich habe das nicht getrunken.

     Translation: I did not drink that.
   • 'nicht'adverb

     Ich habe das nicht schnell getrunken.

     Translation: I did not drink that quickly.
   • 'nicht'infinitive

     Ich werde dieses Getränk nicht trinken .

     Translation: I won’t drink this drink.
   • nichtseparated prefix

     Ich trinke dieses Getränk nicht aus.

     Translation: I’m not finishing this drink.

     austrinken (meaning to finish) is a separable prefix verb

2. When negating an adjective or adverb, nicht usually comes before the word or phrase it negates:

   • 'nicht'adjective

     Das Getränk ist nicht lecker.

     Translation: The drink is not delicious.
   • 'nicht'adverb

     Wann kommst du an? - Nicht heute.

     Translation: When are you arriving? - Not today.

3. When it negates a pronoun, nicht usually comes before the pronoun.

   • 'nicht'possessive pronoun

     Das Buch ist nicht meins.

     Translation: The book is not mine.
   • 'nicht'personal pronoun

     Bist das nicht du in dem Foto?

     Translation: Is that not you in the photo?

4. When it negates a noun with a definite article, nicht comes before the definite article. Since you’re contrasting two nouns, you’ll need to put sondern (meaning but) in front of the noun you want to contrast.

   'nicht ... sondern'definite article + noun phrase

   Ich trinke nicht die Tasse Tee, sondern die Tasse Kaffee.

   Translation: I’m drinking not the cup of tea but the cup of coffee.

In German, kein(e) is a negative indefinite article, meaning that it is used to negate nouns that, in an affirmative sentence, would be used with no article or with an indefinite article. It corresponds to English constructions like “no + noun(s)”:

Let’s take a closer look at how to use this negative word!

In German, you can use the negative intensifiers gar or überhaupt (meaning at all) before a negative word to emphasize or intensify your negation. You can use just one intensifier, or you can use both, in the sequence überhaupt gar.

However, you can only use these negative intensifiers with the following negative words:

• kein

  negative intensifiernegative word

  Ich habe gar keinen Hunger.
  Ich habe überhaupt keinen Hunger.
  Ich habe überhaupt gar keinen Hunger.
  

  Translation: I am not hungry at all.

  Literally: lit. I have no hunger at all.

• keiner / niemand

  negative intensifiernegative word

  Ich habe gar niemand(en) gesehen.
  Ich habe überhaupt niemand(en) gesehen.
  Ich habe überhaupt gar niemand(en) gesehen.

  Translation: I saw nobody at all.

• nicht

  negative intensifiernegative word

  Ich habe gar nicht mit deinem Anruf gerechnet.
  Ich habe überhaupt nicht mit deinem Anruf gerechnet.
  Ich habe überhaupt gar nicht mit deinem Anruf gerechnet.

  Translation: I did not expect your call at all.

• nichts

  negative intensifiernegative word

  Ich habe gar nichts gemacht!
  Ich habe überhaupt nichts gemacht!
  Ich habe überhaupt gar nichts gemacht!

  Translation: I did not do anything at all!

In this article we discussed how and when to use different negative words in German, including…

• Nicht (meaning not) → used to negate adjectives, adverbs, verbs, pronouns, and nouns with definite articles. Use it:

  • after a verb and its objects

  • before other negated elements

• Kein (meaning no, not any) → a negative indefinite article, it is used before an indefinite noun

  • It is declined. Use the mnemonic _E_E – NE_E – MRMN – SRSR to remember the endings.

• Other words like…

  • niemals / nie

    Translation: never
  • nirgends / nirgendwo

    Translation: anywhere, nowhere
  • nirgendwohin / nirgendwoher

    Translation: anywhere, from nowhere
  • niemand

    Translation: nobody, not anybody
  • keiner

    Translation: no one, not anyone
  • nichts

    Translation: nothing
  • ohne

    Translation: without
  • nicht (nur)..., sondern (auch)

    Translation: not (only)... but (also)
  • noch nicht

    Translation: not yet
  • weder… noch

    Translation: neither... nor
  • nein

    Translation: no

• You can intensify kein, niemand, keiner, nicht and nichts by adding gar or überhaupt or both.

Ready to practice? Check out our activities on German negative words! Happy learning!