Breakdown of Nein, es ist auch kein Schlüssel.
sein
to be
auch
also, too
es
it
nein
no
kein
no, not any
der Schlüssel
the key
Questions & Answers about Nein, es ist auch kein Schlüssel.
Why do we use kein here instead of nicht?
In German, we use kein (or keine) to negate nouns that usually take ein or eine (a/an). Since you would say "es ist ein Schlüssel" (it is a key), you negate it by simply changing ein to kein. You use nicht to negate verbs, adjectives, or nouns that have a definite article like der, die, or das.
Why is the ending just kein and not keine?
The ending of kein changes based on the gender of the noun. The word for key is masculine (der Schlüssel). Because it comes after the verb ist (is), it's in the basic subject case (Nominative). For masculine nouns in the Nominative case, the negative article has no extra ending, so it stays kein. If it were a feminine noun like die Lampe (the lamp), you would use keine.
Why does auch (also) come before kein?
In German, adverbs like auch generally sit right in front of the specific idea they are emphasizing or modifying. Here, the "also" applies directly to the fact that it is "not a key", so auch goes directly in front of kein Schlüssel.
Wait, if Schlüssel is masculine, shouldn't we use er (he/it) instead of es (it) to start the sentence?
Not when you are just identifying what an object is! When pointing out what something is or isn't, German uses the fixed phrases es ist (it is) or das ist (that is). You use es here as a generic "it". You would only use the masculine pronoun er if you were already talking about that specific key in a previous sentence.
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