Negation with 'nicht' (not)

nicht means "not". It is the all-purpose negator for everything that kein cannot handle: verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and noun phrases that already have a definite article, a possessive, or a name.

Position is the key skill:

• To negate the whole sentence / the verb, nicht goes at the end: Ich verstehe das nicht. - I don't understand that.
• To negate a specific word, nicht goes directly before it: Das ist nicht gut. - That is not good. Er kommt nicht heute, sondern morgen. - He's coming not today but tomorrow.

More examples:

• Ich kenne den Mann nicht. - I don't know the man. (definite noun → nicht, not kein)
• Sie arbeitet heute nicht. - She is not working today.
• Das ist nicht mein Auto. - That is not my car. (possessive → nicht)

Common mistakes and tips. The classic error is choosing nicht vs. kein wrongly. Rule of thumb: negate a noun that has ein or no article with kein (Ich habe kein Auto); negate everything else - verbs, adjectives, and definite/possessive noun phrases - with nicht (Ich mag das Auto nicht). Another frequent slip is putting nicht too early; for whole-sentence negation it usually belongs at the very end.

'nicht' negates verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and definite noun phrases.

'nicht' usually comes at the end of the sentence, but directly before the specific word it negates.

'nicht' verneint Verben, Adjektive, Adverbien und bestimmte Nomen.