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- "We do not have bread."
"We do not have bread."
Translation:Wir haben kein Brot.
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When to use kein?
You use kein (meaning both “no” and “none”) to negate: A noun (when no article, or an indefinite article—like the English “a” or “an”—is present). Es gibt keine Bananen. (There are no bananas.) Careful: in English, you could also use “not” to say es gibt nicht Bananen (there aren’t bananas), but this is not grammatically correct in German! In place of a noun, to mean “none”, when the subject is already known. Gibt es Bananen? (Are there bananas?) Nein, es gibt keine. (No, there are none.) Note the change in ending here. Just like the indefinite article ein (a, an), kein needs to be “declined”— its ending changing accordingly. The extra e on the end of the stem kein above indicates a plural.
When to use nicht?
You use nicht (not) to negate: A verb. Er schwimmt nicht. (He doesn’t swim.) A noun (only when a definite article—der, die or das [the]—is present). Ich kenne den Film nicht. (I don’t know the film.) A proper noun (e.g. a name). Sie heißt nicht Maria. (Her name’s not Maria.) A possessive adjective—mein (mine), dein (yours), ihr (hers), etc. Das ist nicht mein Auto. (That’s not my car.) An adjective or adverb. Diese Banane ist nicht reif. (This banana is not ripe.)