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- "Das ist kein Apfel."
52 Comments
Das ist nicht ein Apfel: That is not an apple
Das ist kein Apfel: That is no apple
There's not really a difference between kein/keine and nicht You use kein or keine depending on what gender the word has, where is it uses in a sentence and if it is plural or not
Man:
kein Mann - no man
keines Mannes - of no man
zu keinem Mann - to no man
durch keinen Mann - by no man
Woman:
keine Frau - no woman
keiner Frau - of no woman
zu keiner Frau - to no woman
durch keine Frau - by no woman
Child:
kein Kind - no child
keines Kindes - of no child
zu keinem Kind - to no child
durch kein Kind - by no child
Children:
keine Kinder - no children
keiner Kinder - of no children
zu keinen Kindern - to no children
durch keine Kinder - by no children
kein is not an, whereas nicht means not. For example, if you put Das ist nicht Apfel, that would be incorrect as you're saying that is not apple, however, if you put Das ist kein Apfel, you are saying that is not an apple which is correct. A little difficult to explain, so ask if you have more questions please! :) It gives us both a learning opportunity.
2740
Kein is used for masculine and neuter nouns, keine for feminine. Das ist kein Apfel (masculine), das ist keine Zeitung (feminine), das ist kein Buch (neuter).
564
"Not" can precede a noun in English without an article for items that are not enumerable. I can say "that is not wood" or "that is not milk," but "that is not apple" would make sense only if "apple" were being used in a different sense, such as the name of the material rather than something countable. Likewise if someone stains my fence with cherry stain, I could say "that is not apple." If someone gives me a carved potato and tells me that it's made from apple, it would be correct to say that it's not apple, and incorrect to say that it's not an apple (although it isn't but the subject would be the material).
So you are right, given that apples in the sense used here can be counted.
2740
Because 'Das' and 'Apfel' are the same thing, the subject (sorry, I don't know the correct terms, but that is how I remember it). In your second sentence, 'wir' is the subject and 'Wein' is the object, therefore Wein is accusative. Hope that makes sense.
1161
I'm not 100% sure, but in general I've been thinking of 'nicht' as being like 'not' and 'kein' as being like 'no'.
So, "Das ist kein Apfel," is like, "That is no apple."
193
Ahh. That makes sense. Sein doesn't take a direct object: it repeats the subject. Thanks a bunch.
2740
What you put is not good English, you need an article. You should have said 'this is not an apple', or as Duolingo said, quite rightly, 'this is no apple'.
kein is not an, whereas nicht means not. For example, if you put Das ist nicht Apfel, that would be incorrect as you're saying that is not apple, however, if you put Das ist kein Apfel, you are saying that is not an apple which is correct. A little difficult to explain, so ask if you have more questions please! :) It gives us both a learning opportunity.