Negating nouns with "kein"
To negate a noun—saying "not a" or "no" (as in "There is no cellphone")—German uses a special negative article.
You form it simply by adding the letter "k" to the indefinite articles ein and eine, giving you kein and keine.
For masculine (der) and neuter (das) nouns, the word for "a" is ein. To negate them, use kein.
| Is there a cellphone here? | Ist hier ein Handy? |
| No, unfortunately there is no cellphone here. | Nein, hier ist leider kein Handy. |
| Is it perhaps a key? | Ist es vielleicht ein Schlüssel? |
| No, it is also not a key. | Nein, es ist auch kein Schlüssel. |
Negating feminine nouns with "keine"
For feminine (die) nouns, the word for "a" is eine. To negate them, use keine.
| Is it a jacket? | Ist es eine Jacke? |
| No, it is not a jacket. | Nein, es ist keine Jacke. |
| There is a pair of glasses here, right? | Hier ist eine Brille, richtig? |
| Wrong, unfortunately there is no pair of glasses here. | Falsch, hier ist leider keine Brille. |
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