Questions & Answers about Kein Problem! Ich kann warten.
Why do we use Kein instead of Nicht to say 'no' here?
In German, you use kein to negate a noun (a person, place, or thing). It translates closely to 'not a' or 'no' before a noun. Since Problem is a noun, we use kein. You use nicht when you want to negate an action (verb) or a description (adjective).
Why is it exactly kein and not keine?
Problem is a neuter noun in German (das Problem). Because it is neuter, the negative word is just kein without any extra endings. If it were a feminine noun, like Zeit (time), you would say keine Zeit.
Normally, verbs with ich end in -e. Why is it ich kann?
kann comes from the verb können (can / to be able to), which is a 'modal verb'. Modal verbs are highly irregular in German. For the ich form, the vowel changes from 'ö' to 'a' and it drops the usual -e ending, leaving us with just ich kann.
Why doesn't the word warten (to wait) have an ending to match ich?
Because the first verb (kann) already matches ich. In German, when you use a modal verb like kann, it takes charge. The second verb (warten) gets pushed to the very end of the sentence and stays in its full, original dictionary form (the infinitive), which usually ends in -en.
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