kein

Breton

Etymology

Cognate with Welsh cefn ("back"),Cornish keyn (“back”), Gaulish Cebenna (“ridge, height”) (whence French Cévennes), ultimately from Proto-Celtic *kebno- (“back”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkɛjn/

Noun

kein m (plural keinoù)

  1. back (the rear of body)

Inflection

German

Etymology

From Middle High German kein, from the merger of Middle High German dechein, dehein ("someone; anyone", from Old High German dehein) and Middle High German nechein, nehein ("not any", from Old High German nihein). More at none.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kaɪ̯n/
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪ̯n
  • Homophone: Kain
  • Homophone: keinen (according to a common pronunciation of this form)

Pronoun

kein

  1. no; not a(n); not one; not any
    Das ist kein Bett. — “That is not a bed.” (Compare with: “That is no bed.”)

Declension

The declension pattern for kein follows that of ein (“a”) and the possessive determiners, as does the declension of adjectives that follow kein. For the most part, the adjectives decline like those that appear after the definite article (the so-called weak declension pattern for German adjectives). However, kein lacks a masculine marker in the nominative case and a neuter marker in the nominative and accusative cases. Accordingly, adjectives following that plain form take an -er or -es to indicate the gender:

case / gender masculine feminine neuter plural
nominative kein guter Vater keine gute Mutter kein gutes Wort keine guten Wörter
genitive keines guten Vaters keiner guten Mutter keines guten Wortes keiner guten Wörter
dative keinem guten Vater keiner guten Mutter keinem guten Wort keinen guten Wörtern
accusative keinen guten Vater keine gute Mutter kein gutes Wort keine guten Wörter

Further reading

  • kein in Duden online

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian *kēne, from Proto-Germanic *kōniz (“brave”). Cognate with English keen.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kaɪ̯n/

Adjective

kein

  1. pretty, charming
  2. chaste
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