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Ain't represents the contraction of: am not, are not, is not, have not, has not

Examples:

I ain't a traitor. -> I am not a traitor.
Ain't gonna happen. -> Is not gonna happen.
You ain't seen nothing yet. -> You have not seen nothing yet.

Is there a general word in German like in English that can mean: (am, are, is, have, has) + not

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  • ain’t may look like a contraction in written English, because it seems so similar to don’t etc., but it really ain’t one, at least not in the classic or strict sense. It rather is a negation particle or verb in its own right. There ain’t nothing exactly like it in German. Unlike English, many actual oral contractions are usually not reflected in literal German, by the way, although the apostrophe may be used for it in much the same way.
    – Crissov
    Commented Jul 3, 2015 at 6:48
  • "ain't" is a contraction of "am not" , that extended its use to similar forms. See etymonline.com/…
    – rogermue
    Commented Jul 4, 2015 at 16:59

4 Answers 4

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No there are no such contractions with the exact same meaning in German.

Still, we do use contractions or leave out whole words a lot in colloquial speech. Transferred to your examples these may then turn to something like:

Bin kein Verräter! (Ich bin kein Verräter)
Passiert nie! (Das wird niemals passieren)
Haste nicht gesehen. (Das hast du noch nicht gesehen) often used in the meaning of suddenly

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4

No, there is no such single-word in German Language. You always have to use a conjugation of »sein« (to be) plus »nicht«.

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  • Or "geben", depending on context: "gibt's nicht"
    – Robert
    Commented Jul 1, 2015 at 15:09
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In ordinary spoken language possible (not the same, but at least a little bit similar) is "nich" instead of "nicht" . Can be also used without a subject. Works standalone or in a whole sentence. Examples:

Is nich! (could be translated IMO as 'It ain't gonna happen.')
Das (could be more coll. spoken as 'Des') Glas is nich voll.

Bin nich da, falls einer anruft.

Will nich

Mag nich

Kann nich

I will nich hier bleiben.

As said, this is only spoken language. But if the real sound should be shown in written words, one could also write "kannich" instead of "kann nich", etc.

I think I am aware of having read "Kannichverstahn" or so (for "kann es nicht verstehen") somewhere, but googling didn't helped me here, so I am not sure about the origin.

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  • with "bin nich" it is. Have added it to the text :-)
    – Philm
    Commented Jul 9, 2015 at 3:30
  • 1
    Hier: Kannitverstan, but that refers to Dutch.
    – Stephie
    Commented Jul 9, 2015 at 9:31
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Es ist ein Sonderfall, dass man im Englischen am/are/is/have/has + n't auf eine Form ain't reduzieren kann. Ich kenne so etwas in keiner anderen Sprache. Und im Deutschen sind derartige Ungenauigkeiten nicht geschätzt. Ain't is slang. Wenn man diesen Sprachstil vom Englischen ins Deutsche rüberbringen will, muß man die Person in Dialekt reden lassen oder lässigen Jugendjargon benutzen. Aber ein Zusammenziehen von mehreren verschiedenen Verbformen zu einer gibt es im Deutschen nicht.

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