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      Englisch lernen: 'haben', present tense weak verbs, negation with nicht and kein

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can use present tense weak verbs, 'nicht' and 'kein' to talk about learning a language.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. Nominative case is for nouns with sein, heißen and werden; accusative case is for object nouns with all other verbs.
      2. The verb 'haben' is irregular.
      3. Present tense weak verbs are formed like 'lernen'.
      4. 'Nicht' negates before the definite article (meaning 'not the'), adjectives, possessives, proper nouns and after verbs.
      5. For negation before nouns, 'kein' replaces the indefinite article to mean 'not a', 'no'.

      Keywords

      • Nominative - the case used for the subject of a sentence

      • Accusative - the case used for the object of a sentence

      • Nicht - the adverb 'not', which negates the definite article ‘the’

      • Kein - the negative determiner 'not a', 'no', that replaces the indefinite article ‘a/an’ before nouns

      Common misconception

      'Nicht' means 'not' when negating in all German sentences.

      'Nicht' negates in many sentences, but 'kein' replaces the indefinite article 'a/an' to negate nouns. For example, 'I have no car', and 'I haven't got a car' are both 'Ich habe kein Auto' in German.

      Teacher tip

      Give plentiful examples of negative sentences with 'nicht' or 'kein' in the classroom, and encourage pupils to create their own examples in regular classroom conversation and across other contexts.

      Licence

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
      except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
      (Collection 2).

      Lesson video

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      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match these German words to their English meanings.

      Correct Answer:die Gegenwart,present
      Correct Answer:die Vergangenheit,past
      Correct Answer:der Sinn,sense, meaning
      Correct Answer:unterrichten,to teach, teaching
      Correct Answer:deutlich,clear, clearly
      Correct Answer:der Ton,tone, sound

      Q2.
      Which of the following words are masculine?

      Frage
      Hobby
      Correct answer: Unterschied
      Correct answer: Ausdruck
      Correct answer: Artikel

      Q3.
      Put the words below in the correct order to complete this sentence: 'The definite article in English is '__________'. In German, the definite article matches the '__________' of the '__________'.'

      1 - the
      2 - gender
      3 - noun

      Q4.
      Match the articles below to the correct English definitions.

      Correct Answer:der, die, das, die,definite articles, nominative case
      Correct Answer:den, die, das, die,definite articles, accusative case
      Correct Answer:ein, eine, ein,indefinite articles, nominative case
      Correct Answer:einen, eine, ein,indefinite articles, accusative case

      Q5.
      Complete this sentence: 'The subject in German uses the __________ case and the object uses the __________ case. The verbs __________, __________, __________ always takes the __________ case.'

      1 - nominative
      2 - accusative
      3 - sein
      4 - heißen
      5 - werden

      Q6.
      Order the indefinite articles to complete this sentence: 'Das ist __________ Hobby (n). Ich habe online __________ Website (f) über das Deutschlernen gefunden. Das macht __________ Unterschied (m).'

      1 - ein
      2 - eine
      3 - einen

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the following English words to their German meanings.

      Correct Answer:meaning, significance,die Bedeutung
      Correct Answer:row, line,die Reihe
      Correct Answer:tone,der Ton
      Correct Answer:sudden, suddenly,plötzlich
      Correct Answer:near,nah, nahe
      Correct Answer:not at all,gar nicht

      Q2.
      The nominative case is always used after which of the following verbs?

      Correct answer: sein
      haben
      Correct answer: werden
      machen
      Correct answer: heißen

      Q3.
      Which statement below correctly defines the use of the accusative case?

      The accusative is used after all verbs.
      Correct answer: The accusative is used after 'haben' and most other verbs.
      The accusative is used after all verbs except 'sein' and 'heißen'.
      The accusative is used after all verbs except 'werden'.

      Q4.
      Match these uses of 'nicht' to the appropriate rules for using 'nicht'.

      Correct Answer:Das Auto ist nicht rot.,use 'nicht' before an adjective
      Correct Answer:Das ist nicht die Antwort. ,use 'nicht' before a definite article
      Correct Answer:Nein, das ist nicht Paula.,use 'nicht' before a proper noun
      Correct Answer:Ich verstehe das Wort nicht. ,use 'nicht' after a verb or clause

      Q5.
      'Kein' is used instead of the article to mean 'not a' or 'no'.

      Correct Answer: indefinite

      Q6.
      Correctly order the words below to complete this sentence: 'Das macht __________ Unterschied (m)! Wenn man __________ Fremdsprache (f) hat, ist es ___________ einfach, im Ausland zu arbeiten.'

      1 - keinen
      2 - keine
      3 - nicht

      To help you plan your 10 German lesson on: Englisch lernen: 'haben', present tense weak verbs, negation with nicht and kein, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...