German - kein vs nicht?

Question

I've been studying German for 3 (high school) years, and I have yet to figure out when to use "kein" and when to use "nicht."

For example: Ich bin keine Aerztin vs. Ich bin nicht eine Aerztin.

I know that it's Ich bin keine Aerztin, but I don't know when to use which aside from that situation, and "sein" situations in general.

Could someone explain to me when to use "kein" and when to use "nicht"?

Answer 1

kein/keine/kein is the negative article (English "no")
"nicht" is the negation adverb (English "not")
So far, so good - if natural languages could be translated word by word. Unfortunately they can't (or fortunately, for otherwise we language teachers would lose outr jobs to babelfish).

While English tends to negate the verb (using the adverb "not"), German tends to negate the predicate (mostly an object case noun).

So in cases where English usage would suggest something like "I don't have money" or "He doesn't want any more soup", German usage would tend to say "Ich habe kein Geld" or "Er will keine Suppe mehr"

"nicht" is mostly used in sentences where no object noun exists ("Ich kann nicht schwimmen"; "Sie glaubt ihm nicht") or where the verb is the more important element to be negated "Sie glaubt seine Lügen nicht" - "She doesn't believe his lies" as opposed to, say "Sie glaubt keine einzige seiner Lügen" - "She doesn't believe any of his lies.)

Answer 2

German Kein And Nicht

Answer 3

A simple way to work this problem out is to remember:

"nicht ein" = "kein"

So, formulate your sentences just like you would in English, but replace any instances of "nicht ein" with "kein." This should be good enough for most situations.

-----------EXTRA (Partially relevant) INFO----------------
The only additional problem might be sentences like your example. When discussing professions, citizenship, and some other things, you don't use "ein." For instance, I would say "Ich bin Informatiker," NOT "Ich bin ein Informatiker" So, when you say you are not a doctor, I *believe* it would actually be "Ich bin nicht Ärztin." However, I think all Germans would say "Ich bin keine Ärtzin," so both are probably correct. (I'll try to research this more).

An interesting example of this would be the famous "Ich bin ein Berliner." from JFK. Many people claim that this was incorrect and that he should have said "Ich bin Berliner." The difference is that "Ich bin Berliner" means, literally, "I am a citizen of Berlin." "Ich bin ein Berliner" is used metaphorically to mean "I am like a citizen of Berlin." Kennedy was not trying to claim that he was a citizen of Berlin, he was expressing his unity with the citizens of Berlin.

Similarly, "Ich bin Ärtzin" would mean "I am employed as a doctor," while "Ich bin eine Ärtzin" would be used if you actually are not a doctor, but you are doing something like a doctor. For instance, if your child skins his knee, you might clean his wound and bandage it while claiming "Ich bin eine Ärtzin."

As a last example, I am currently teaching you something about German, but I'm not a teacher. So, I would say that right now "Ich bin ein Lehrer," but I would NOT say "Ich bin Lehrer," because I'm not a teacher--Ich bin Informatiker.

Of course, this is a fine detail that isn't of great importance (and I'm not even sure if most Germans would understand the difference).

Answer 4

Kein for negating nouns (things, places)- Kein is placed before the noun Das ist [keine Steckdose] Nicht for negating verbs (doing/ action words)- Nicht can be placed either after the verb or at the end of the sentence Ich [komme nicht]

Answer 5

think about it:
Ich bin keine Aerztin translates to: I am no doctor.
Ich bin nicht eine Aerztin translates to: I am not a doctor.

No money = Kein Geld
Not payable in money = nicht mit Geld zu bezahlen.

Therefore: kein = no
nicht = not

Answer 6

though I'm not a native speaker, I've been studying it for 3 years, too! I think they usually say "Ich bin keine ärztin"...they usually use "kein" in most of those situations...

for example, someone gives you something and you think it's a cell phone, you would say "Ist das ein Handy?" and they would answer "Nein, das ist kein Handy! Das ist ein Rechner." Kind of like in sort-of slang english, when we would say "that's no cell phone!" even though that's gramatically incorrect. (I know, stupid examples..haha)

I think they only use "nicht" when you're describe someone with a predicate adjective (er ist nicht faul!) or when you say you're not doing something (ich schreibe nicht). Hope I helped, and someone correct me if I'm wrong!

Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

Answer 7

Use "kein" to negate a noun, use "nicht" to negate anything else, and if you have a choice of words to negate, choose the noun.

(To D.M.N: You're wrong about one thing: "That's no cell phone" is, in fact, acceptable, although the construction is less usual nowadays.)

Answer 8

kein/e = no
nicht = not