Word
Der Chef hat keinen Laptop.
Meaning
The boss does not have a laptop.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der Chef hat keinen Laptop.
haben
to have
kein
no, not any
der Chef
the boss (male)
der Laptop
the laptop
Questions & Answers about Der Chef hat keinen Laptop.
Why do we use keinen instead of nicht here?
We use a form of kein when we are negating a noun that would normally use an indefinite article (a or an) or no article. Since 'a laptop' would be einen Laptop, the negative is keinen Laptop (literally 'no laptop'). We do not use nicht to negate these kinds of nouns.
Why does kein have an -en ending in this sentence?
Laptop is a masculine noun (der Laptop). Because it is the direct object being 'had' by the verb haben (to have), it must be in the accusative case. In the accusative case, the negative article for masculine nouns takes an -en ending, making it keinen.
Does the verb haben always force the noun into the accusative case?
Yes! The verb haben (to have) requires a direct object to complete its meaning, and direct objects are put in the accusative case. The person doing the having (der Chef) is the subject in the nominative case.
How do I know the gender of an English word like Laptop?
English loanwords often take the gender of a similar German word, or they simply default to masculine. Laptop is masculine (der Laptop). Because you can't guess it just by looking at the word, it is always best to memorize the gender along with the new vocabulary word!