what is it?
German has two core negation words: nicht («not») and kein («no / not a / not any»). Which one you use depends on what you are negating: kein replaces the indefinite article or signals the absence of an uncounted noun, while nicht negates verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and nouns that already carry a definite article. The position of nicht in the sentence follows clear rules that differ from English word order. The intensifiers gar and überhaupt can be added before either negation word to strengthen it (gar nicht, gar keine, überhaupt nichts).
when to use it
Use kein when negating a noun that would normally take an indefinite article (ein, eine, ein) or no article at all. This covers countable nouns in the singular («kein Auto», «keine Frau») and uncountable or plural nouns used without an article («keine Zeit», «keine Bücher»).
Use nicht to negate everything else: a verb or the whole verbal action («Ich komme nicht»), a predicate adjective («nicht interessant»), an adverb («nicht heute»), a prepositional phrase («nicht in Berlin»), or a noun with a definite article («nicht der Mann»).
Use gar nicht / gar kein / überhaupt nicht to intensify the negation, meaning «not at all» or «absolutely no». These are common in spoken German even at A1 level.
formation
kein is an article-like word and takes the same endings as the indefinite article ein. The table below shows its forms across genders and cases relevant at A1 (nominative and accusative).
| gender / number | nominative | accusative |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | kein | keinen |
| feminine | keine | keine |
| neuter | kein | kein |
| plural (all genders) | keine | keine |
nicht is invariable — it has only one form and never changes for gender, number, or case. Its position in the clause, however, does vary:
Negating the whole event (verbal negation): nicht stands at the end of the clause, after all other elements — «Ich komme heute nicht.»
Before a predicate adjective or predicate noun: nicht comes directly before the adjective or noun — «Der Film ist nicht interessant.»
Before a prepositional complement: nicht stands immediately before the preposition — «Ich bin nicht in Berlin.»
Negating a specific constituent (focus negation): nicht is placed directly before the word or phrase being singled out — «Ich komme nicht heute» (but some other day).
The difference between «Ich komme nicht heute» (focus: not today, but another day) and «Ich komme heute nicht» (general: I am not coming today) is subtle but real. At A1, the safest rule is: when you mean to negate the whole action, put nicht last.
examples in context
common pitfalls
nicht ein instead of kein
English speakers sometimes translate «not a» word-for-word as *nicht ein Auto. This is not standard German. Whenever you would use ein/eine/ein in the positive, replace the whole article with the correct form of kein: «Ich habe kein Auto.»
placing nicht directly after the subject
In English, «not» sits right after the auxiliary verb: «I do not understand.» German has no such auxiliary, and the verb must stay in second position. *Ich nicht verstehe das is wrong. The correct order keeps the finite verb in second position and sends nicht toward the end: «Ich verstehe das nicht.»
putting nicht before a time adverb when the whole event is negated
«Ich komme nicht heute» implies a contrast — «not today, but another day.» If you simply mean «I am not coming today,» nicht must follow heute and go to the end: «Ich komme heute nicht.» Putting nicht before the adverb when no contrast is intended is a common word-order error.