"Nicht" vs "Kein"

Question

This question reminded me of a question that I met when learning German, and I still kind of have it.

What are the differences between these words usage? I thought that "nicht" was used to "deny verbs", while "kein" was used for nouns, but I've met some exceptions (I can't recall any at the moment), and this theory kind of "failed".

So my questions are:

• Which are the main guidelines (dos and dont's) to use these two words?
• What are the exceptions?

If someone has some more points to ask on this topic that I forgot about, feel free to write a comment and we'll see if it's the case to include them (to make this question as complete as possible).

Answer 1

Ich bin nicht der Bademeister, ich bin ein Gast.

translates to

I'm not the pool attendant. I'm a guest.

while

Ich bin kein Bademeister, ich bin Gast.

translates to

I'm no pool attendant, I'm guest.

The difference, from my understanding, is that at least in this particular exception the first sentence could be said by a pool assistant without lying.

Kein states explicitly that in the past, at the moment and in the foreseeable future I'm not going to be a pool assistant.

Answer 2

"Kein(e)(s,r)" is used to negate undefined nouns or pronouns:

Ich habe keine Wohnung. (instead of: Ich habe nicht eine Wohnung)

Keiner sah es. (instead of: nicht einer sah es)

You can, however, use the second expression (in brackets) if you want to emphasize that there is not even one thing of a kind:

Nicht einer meiner Freunde kam zur Party. (not even one friend came to the party)

If you keep to this I think you should get along very well. Of course, there are some "special expressions", but for them look up the Duden.

Answer 3

When negating something else than a noun, always use nicht.

When negating a noun, there are some guidelines:

Use kein if what you are negating is

• a noun with which you would use ein if not negating

  Nein, das ist kein BMW.

• a noun not preceded by any article

  Nein, ich spreche kein Schwedisch.

Use nicht if what you are negating is

• a noun preceded by der/das/die.

  Nein, das ist nicht die Lehrerin.

• a noun preceded by a possessive pronoun (e.g. mein, dein etc.)

  Nein, das ist nicht meine Zeitung.

• a proper noun (i.e. a name)

  Nein, ich heiße nicht Otto.

There are some exceptions, where nouns can be seen as verb prefixes:

Ski laufen, Auto fahren, Tennis spielen and similar can be seen as verbs rather than one noun and one verb. In these cases, the noun is so closely linked to the verb that it is seen as one unit. In cases like these, the negation follows negation of verbs:

Nein, ich kann nicht Ski laufen.

Nein, ich fahre nicht Auto.

Nein, ich spiele nicht Tennis.

Answer 4

A sample would help. The distinction is similar to English:

Ich bin kein Trinker. Ich trinke nicht.

is similar to

I'm no drinker. I do not drink.

Although in English you could also use "I'm not a drinker", but here the not qualifies the verb instead of the noun.

Answer 5

I believe that "nicht" means "not" and "kein" means "no(ne)." (While "nichts" means nothing.)

"Doch das Messer, sieht man NICHT." One does NOT see the knife.

"Man sieht kein Messer." One sees NO knife.

Answer 6

Ich weiß dies geht:

„Ich brauche keinen Schlafsack“.

Vielleicht geht:

„Einen Schlafsack brauche ich nicht“

... als ob ich niemals einen Schlafsack brauchte? Klingt mir besser wie „Ich brauche Schlafsäcke nicht“.

Aber wie sieht es mit neun Schlafsäcken aus?

„Ich brauche keine neun Schlafsäcke“

Das klingt mir nicht richtig, aber ist es wohl.

Gibt's vielleicht so einen Sinn?

„Neun Schlafsäcke brauche ich nicht“

Answer 7

The basic difference is to look at the actual negation - does it refer to a noun or a verb/adjective?

Nouns

Some easy pointers are: Using "haben, brauchen" and other verbs that must have an Accusative Object more or less always use "kein", except when the object is a specific one (using "der, die, das").

e.g.:

• Ich habe keine Geschwister/kein Geld.
• Ich brauche keine Hilfe/Keinen Kredit

Coming from English - whenever you could say "to have no....", "to need no ..." you use "kein" in German.

Verbs and Adjectives use "nicht" to negate.

Verbs

Be aware of the position of "nicht" with verbs. It is always placed just in front of what is in the Negative, so not always immediately next to the verb. e.g.:

• "Ich trinke diesen Kaffee nicht" (as part of the verb unit it is in the last positon of the sentence)
• "Ich mag den Kuchen nicht essen" (The unit here is "like -not eat", in comparison in English you would say "not like - eat". So in German the negative is on the actual activity.)

Adjectives are straightforward. The "nicht" is placed just in front of the adjective you want to negate.

e.g.: Das Haus ist nicht groß.