Breakdown of Der Patient hat Husten und Schnupfen, aber kein Fieber.
Questions & Answers about Der Patient hat Husten und Schnupfen, aber kein Fieber.
In German, illnesses and symptoms are often used without an article after haben:
- Ich habe Husten. – I have a cough.
- Sie hat Kopfschmerzen. – She has a headache.
- Wir haben Fieber. – We have a fever.
This is a common pattern with many health-related nouns. You generally don’t say:
- ✗ Ich habe einen Husten.
- ✗ Der Patient hat einen Schnupfen.
Those would sound unusual or overly specific (as if it were “a particular cough / one specific cold”). The article is possible in very specific contexts, but the default, neutral way to talk about symptoms is without an article after haben.
Kein is used to negate nouns that would otherwise have ein or no article at all.
- Ich habe Fieber. → Ich habe kein Fieber.
- Sie hat Husten. → Sie hat keinen Husten.
Nicht usually negates:
- verbs: Er arbeitet nicht. – He doesn’t work.
- adjectives: Das ist nicht gut. – That’s not good.
- specific noun phrases with a definite article or possessive:
Das ist nicht mein Auto. – That’s not my car.
Since Fieber is a noun used without an article here (habe Fieber), kein is the correct negation: kein Fieber, not nicht Fieber.
Kein must match the gender, number, and case of the noun.
- Fieber is neuter (das Fieber).
- After haben, the noun is in the accusative case.
- Neuter, accusative singular → the form of kein is kein.
Mini-table for kein in the singular:
- Masculine: kein (nom.), keinen (acc.)
- Neuter: kein (nom. & acc.)
- Feminine: keine (nom. & acc.)
So:
- Ich habe kein Fieber. (neuter acc.)
- Ich habe keinen Husten. (masculine acc.; der Husten)
In German, illnesses and symptoms are generally expressed with haben, not sein:
- Ich habe Husten. – I have a cough.
- Sie hat Fieber. – She has a fever.
- Wir haben Kopfschmerzen. – We have a headache.
Using sein here (ist Husten) would be incorrect or nonsensical.
You can use sein in a different construction:
- Der Patient ist krank. – The patient is ill.
- Er ist erkältet. – He has a cold / He is (down) with a cold.
So:
- haben + Symptom (Husten, Schnupfen, Fieber)
- sein + Adjective (krank, erkältet)
In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of their position in the sentence.
- Der Patient – the patient (noun)
- Husten – cough (noun)
- Schnupfen – cold / runny nose (noun)
- Fieber – fever (noun)
Even if they were in the middle of the sentence, they would still be capitalized:
- Er hat Husten.
- Sie hat Fieber.
Capitalization is not about emphasis here; it’s a fixed spelling rule for nouns.
Aber is a coordinating conjunction meaning “but”. It connects two main clauses and expresses a contrast:
- Der Patient hat Husten und Schnupfen, aber kein Fieber.
→ The patient has cough and a runny nose, but no fever.
As a coordinating conjunction:
- It does not change the word order of the second part:
… aber er hat kein Fieber. (verb stays in 2nd position)
You normally keep aber at the beginning of the second clause:
- Der Patient hat Husten, aber kein Fieber.
- Der Patient hat Husten, aber er hat kein Fieber.
You cannot move it around like in English “but still / but however” inside the clause.
✗ Der Patient hat Husten, er aber hat kein Fieber. → very marked / literary, not neutral.
Der Patient uses the definite article (“the patient”), which implies:
- It’s a specific patient, known from context or already introduced.
- For example, in a medical file, or when a doctor talks about this patient.
Ein Patient would mean “a patient” in a more general or new sense:
- Ein Patient hat Husten und Schnupfen, aber kein Fieber.
→ Some patient / a patient has cough and runny nose but no fever.
So the choice between der and ein depends on whether the speaker assumes the listener knows which patient is being talked about.
When you list symptoms with haben, you normally don’t repeat articles and don’t add extra ones:
- Der Patient hat Husten und Schnupfen.
- Sie hat Kopfschmerzen und Fieber.
Adding der here (… Husten und der Schnupfen) would sound wrong in this context, as if you were switching to a different grammatical structure (for example, referring back to a previously mentioned, specific cold).
For simple symptom lists with haben, just place the nouns side by side without articles:
- Husten und Schnupfen
- Fieber und Kopfschmerzen
- Husten, Schnupfen und Fieber
You can say something similar, but with different verbs:
Der Patient hustet. – The patient is coughing.
(husten is a common verb.)For Schnupfen, the usual verb is schniefen or schnupfen, but:
- schnupfen is more about sniffing/snorting, often used with drugs or allergic reactions.
- In everyday speech, people more often say:
- Der Patient ist verschnupft. – The patient has a cold / is sniffly.
So, very natural alternatives are:
- Der Patient hustet und ist verschnupft, aber hat kein Fieber.
- Der Patient hustet, hat Schnupfen, aber kein Fieber.
However, hat Husten und Schnupfen is the standard, neutral way to list symptoms.
Most of it is relatively fixed because of German word order rules:
- The finite verb must be in second position in a main clause:
- Der Patient hat Husten und Schnupfen, aber kein Fieber.
- Heute hat der Patient Husten und Schnupfen.
You can reorder some elements for emphasis:
- Der Patient hat kein Fieber, aber Husten und Schnupfen.
→ The contrast now highlights the lack of fever first.
But you cannot move the verb to the end like in English questions or informal emphasis:
- ✗ Der Patient Husten und Schnupfen hat, aber kein Fieber. (wrong word order)
Within each clause, keep the subject–verb basic order, then the objects/complements.