German A1.16 Listening Practice: Negate The Object With Kein
Listen to a A1 German dialogue about negate the object with kein, with audio, transcript, and grammar notes for language learning.
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Level
A1.16
Audio
Segmented audio
Transcript
21 segments
A short German listening chapter with transcript.
Say that there is no object to count or possess by using the negative member of the ein-word family.
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1. Hanna · Teacher
Welcome to German practice! I'm Hanna. Today, we'll learn how to negate nouns using 'kein'. Let's listen to Felix and Clara.
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2. Felix · Native Speaker 1
Ich habe keinen Schlüssel.
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3. Clara · Native Speaker 2
Ich habe keine Tasche.
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4. Felix · Native Speaker 1
Ich habe das Buch.
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5. Clara · Native Speaker 2
Ich habe kein Buch.
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6. Felix · Native Speaker 1
Ich habe keine Bücher.
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7. Hanna · Teacher
Let's break that down. Felix said: 'Ich habe keinen Schlüssel.' This means 'I have no key.'
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8. Lukas · Student
Why did Felix use 'keinen' instead of 'kein'?
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9. Hanna · Teacher
Because 'Schlüssel' is masculine, 'der Schlüssel'. A masculine direct object takes 'keinen'.
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10. Hanna · Teacher
Next, Clara said: 'Ich habe keine Tasche.' This means 'I have no bag.'
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11. Lukas · Student
Is 'keine' used because 'Tasche' is feminine?
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12. Hanna · Teacher
Exactly, Lukas! Feminine nouns like 'die Tasche' take 'keine'.
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13. Hanna · Teacher
Then Felix said: 'Ich habe das Buch.' This means 'I have the book.'
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14. Lukas · Student
So he's stating what he has rather than negating it?
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15. Hanna · Teacher
Yes, 'das' is the definite article 'the' for neuter nouns like 'das Buch'.
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16. Hanna · Teacher
After that, Clara said: 'Ich habe kein Buch.' This means 'I have no book.'
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17. Lukas · Student
Why does she use 'kein' here without an ending?
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18. Hanna · Teacher
Because 'das Buch' is neuter, and neuter direct objects take 'kein'.
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19. Hanna · Teacher
Finally, Felix said: 'Ich habe keine Bücher.' This means 'I have no books.'
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20. Lukas · Student
Do all plural nouns use 'keine' as well?
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21. Hanna · Teacher
Yes! Plural nouns like 'Bücher' always take 'keine'. Great job practicing today!
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