German Negation Beginning With "N"

This article takes a deeper look at some German negation words. A basic discussion of negation focused on the difference between nicht and kein, when to use nicht with sondern and when kein with sondern is more appropriate. Beyond these preliminary concepts, there are more words that express negation in German. Many of these begin with the letter N.

Other German Negation Words Beginning With "N"

These words include:

• ​niemand (pronoun, nobody/no one)
• nichts (pronoun, nothing)
• niemals (adv., never)
• nie (adv., never)
• nirgendwo (adv., nowhere)

You will always find a lot of jokes and play on words with these and other German negation words. Consider the following over-the-top use of negation:  Wenn niemand niemals nirgendswo hingeht, dann kann keiner niemanden treffen, nicht wahr? Keine Sorgen! Dies wird nie geschehen. Translation: If nobody never goes anywhere, then no one could meet anybody, is that not so? No worries! This will never happen.

No worries really, if feeling a little dazed after reading that, because the good news is that these other negation words follow the same rules as other words of their grammatical type, with hardly any exceptions.

Word Placement Rules

Nichts and Niemand

As indefinite pronouns, these words can replace either a subject or object:

• Niemand hat mich heute gesehen. (Nobody saw me today.)
• Ich will mit niemanden spielen. (I don't want to play with anybody.)
• Nichts schmeckt gut. (Nothing tastes good.)
• Er will nichts essen. (He doesn't want to eat anything.)

Niemals, Nie, and Nirgendwo

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These adverbs can stand alone, be placed before a verb, or be placed at the end of a phrase. Here are some examples:

• Hast du jemals geraucht? (Have you ever smoked?)
• Nie. (Never.)
• Er hat mich nie angerufen. (He never called me.)

The word order of this negated sentence allows for a contrasting negation with sondern: Er hat mich nie angerufen, sondern immer besucht. (He never called me, he always visited me.) Otherwise, these negation words are often placed at or near the end of the sentence:

• Er ruft mich nie an. (He never calls me.)
• Sie besucht mich niemals. (She never visits me.)

To emphasize the negation, the negation adverb can be placed at the front of the sentence:

• Nie hat er mich angerufen! (Never has he called me!)
• Nirgendwo ist es sicher! (Nowhere is it safe!)

Declination

Nichts is an undeclinable pronoun. On the other hand niemand is declinable, but increasingly not declined. According to the Duden, it is now correct to also leave the word niemand undeclined.

For example:

• Er hat heute niemand gesehen. (He saw no one today.)
• Er hat heute niemanden gesehen.

Both ways are acceptable. To those of you who want to hold on to the declination of niemand, here is its declination. Take note that niemand is a singular word that doesn’t have a plural.

• Nominative: niemand
• Genitive: niemandes
• Dative: niemandem
• Accusative: niemanden

Additional Grammar Rules and Tips

Difference Between Nichts and Nicht

Nichts is not the plural of nicht or a declination thereof! They have two separate meanings: Nicht (adv.) -> not; nichts (pron.)-> nothing. Therefore they can not be interchanged.

Nirgendwo

You will often hear and read many related words and substitutes for nirgendwo. Likewise, you will also often hear and read opinions over which related words are actually correct. Here’s the breakdown:

• Substitutes: nirgends, nirgendswo
• Related: nirgendwohin/nirgendhin/nirgendshin, nirgendwoher/nirgendher/nirgendsher.
• Wrong: Nirgendswohin, nirgendswoher

Opposites of Negation Words

It is important to know the opposites of German negation words, so as to know how to reply to questions involving such words. Some words such as niemand can have several opposite negation words (jemand meaning somebody or irgendjemand/ irgendwer meaning anybody) each one changing slightly the meaning of the sentence. 

Negation and Affirmative Words