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- Topic: German >
- "Ich bin kein Junge."
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Wait, isn't it Ich bin keiner Junge?. Isn't this the adjective (kein) in its mixed inflection for nominative-masculine (keiner)?
I'm a bit confused.
that's exactly what I thought. I have in my notebook: kein - neuter, keine - feminine and keinen - masculine
The right ending also depends on the case. Regarding endings, "kein" behaves just like "ein", but with a "k" in front (and for plurals, which have no "ein" form, it uses the ending "e", at least in the nominative and accusative cases).
Because the verb "sein" (to be) is one of just a few verbs that take their object in the nominative instead of the usual accusative, here we need the masculine nominative, which is "ein", so we get "kein". For most other verbs (e.g. "haben") we would need the masculine accusative, which is "einen", so we would get "keinen".
Not sure, but i think that "nicht" works as an adverb, and "kein" as some kind of pronoun, so inflection on "kein" should be the same as it is on other indefinite articles.
Because "bin" is a conjugation of "sein", which is one of a small handful of verbs that take their object in the nominative case instead of the usual accusative. "Ich habe keinen Junge" ("I have no boy") is correct, though.
Better learn by examples:
use "kein, keine or keinen" when related to a noun:
Ich bin kein Mann ("kein" has the function of "nicht ein").
Ich bin keine Frau ("keine" instead of "nicht eine")
Wir haben keinen Computer ("keinen" instead of "nicht einen")
use "nicht", when related to adjectives or adverbs:
Adjective: Ich bin nicht schnell. Er ist nicht jung. Das Haus ist nicht weiß. Die Musik ist nicht laut.
Adverb: Ich bin nicht schnell gelaufen. Das Haus ist nicht weiß gestrichen. Wir haben nicht laut gespielt.
You can use either, however they are placed in different parts of the sentence. You could use nicht in this sentence but since there is a direct object it must go after the direct object and an article would needed to be placed before Junge.
Boy - Noun - masculine: http://www.canoo.net/inflection/junge:N:M:boy
Young (as in animal offspring) - Noun - neuter: http://www.canoo.net/inflection/junge:N:N
Young - adjective: http://www.canoo.net/inflection/jung:A
Is it because 'I'm not boy' is not a correct sentence in English? Unless you treat 'boy' like an adjective
I always thought kein was no, like "Wir haben keine Katze". Can it also be not, then? I always thought that not was nicht.
"kein" can stand for no as well as for not:
I have no money (= ich habe kein Geld). He has no future (= er hat keine Zukunft). They have no friend (=sie haben keinen Freund)
'I am no boy' is idiomatic English as spoken in its country of origin and works fine with 'That is no man' etc. in your exercises and Wagner's (from Siegfried): 'das ist kein Mann'
It's like in Star Wars when they say "that's no moon." It's the same principle.
Sure it does! Imagine you are a man, and somebody accuses you of being a boy. You would say "I am no boy. [I am a man!]"
"I am no boy!" makes perfect sense in English. It implies that the speaker is somewhat offended by being called "a boy". For example, someone accuses you of stealing something and you exclaim "I am no thief!"
