I could have sworn that both "kein" and "nein" both meant "no" in German, but how do you know when to use each?
2006-12-13 15:23:44 · 10 answers · asked by Fünfhundertfünfundfünfzig 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Nein--no only as in 'yes or no' (negative response to a questions)
kein (keine/keinen/keinem/keines...) negates a noun.
Hast du einen Bruder? Nein, ich habe keinen Bruder. In normal English we say I don't have a brother, but the German translates more closely to I have no brother.
Trinken Sie Kaffee? Nein, ich trinke keinen Kaffee.
nicht--negates a verb/whole sentence.
Spielst du gern Schach? Nein, Schach spiele ich nicht so gern.
german.about.com has good straightforward grammar and usage information.
2006-12-14 00:45:10 · answer #1 · answered by frauholzer 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Define Nein
2016-10-22 00:20:21 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
kein means none as in a number. "There are no apples in the basket."
nein means no. "No. You can not do that."
typically German sentences do not need to define the number of items spoken about when talking about one thing. "I have a car." The German equivalent would be .... I have car.
When talking about numbers, one would use kein. "I have no car."
When saying something to the negitive, one would use nein. "No (nein), I have no (kein) car."
There ya' go, German in a nutshell.
2006-12-13 18:14:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
nein is the "no" as in no, thanks Nein Danke
and its more of a response
and kein is the " no " thats like i have no money ich habe kein Gelb
and its more of a figure or number
hope this helps because thats the best i can explian it im only in german2
2006-12-13 15:34:24 · answer #4 · answered by timmy123 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Kein =None. Nein = No.
2006-12-13 15:27:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
kein = none. nein = no. Use kein when you are talking about stuff. Example: I have no (kein) stuff.
2006-12-13 15:27:47 · answer #6 · answered by Michael P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They do both mean no, however...kein means no as in none or not any as in the sentence "Ich will kein Milch haben." (I will have no milk). Nein means no as in the opposite of yes as in response to question, "Willst du milch haben?" (Will you have milk?) "Nein." (no).
So their use depends on whether you are saying no as the opposite of yes, or no as in none or not any, zero.
Hope that clears it up.
2006-12-13 15:35:20 · answer #7 · answered by kveldulf_gondlir 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
kein means none ! and nein means no !
2006-12-13 15:27:41 · answer #8 · answered by pricebazoo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Nein" means "no", as in "No, you can't have my money".
"Kein" means "no" as in "I have no words to express how I feel", as in.... *thinking*.... damn, I can't think of an exact translation in English... like "no one", "neither", "nobody", "none"... not one of certain things/options/people in a group. It's hard to explain to English-speakers. In Spanish it would be "ninguno".
2006-12-13 15:30:54 · answer #9 · answered by alex 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
extra. continually extra. no longer technically authentic, yet farther sounds dumb. each and each and every will artwork, they recommend enormously a lot an same element and nobody will comprehend the version till they're a pretentious douche. Farther does somewhat recommend distance, yet no-one makes use of it anymore.
2016-11-26 02:07:49 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋