As we have seen in the different
declination kein
can be used with or without a noun, that means that
it can be used as adjectival (with noun) and as substantival
(without noun) pronoun. The word kein
changes marginally in masculine and neutral form.
Examples:
Kein
Mann sieht Fußball. =
No man watches soccer. Keinersieht Fußball.
= No one / nobody watches soccer.
Ich sehekeinen
Mann. = I do
not see a man. Ich sehe keinen.
= I do not see
anyone / anybody.
(thinking still of a masculine noun)
Ich schenke es keinem
Mann.
= I do not give
it to a man. Ich schenke es keinem.
= I do not
give it anyone
/ anybody.
Actually it works the same with feminine nouns:
Examples:
Keine
Frau sieht rote Elefanten. = No
woman sees red elephants. Keine
sieht rote Elefanten. = No
one / nobody
sees red elephant (no feminine person)
Ich sehe keine
Frau. = I do
not see a woman. Ich sehe keine.
= I do not see
anyone / anybody.
(thinking still of a feminine noun)
Ich schenke es keinerFrau. = I do
not give it
to a woman. Ich schenke es keiner.
= I do not
give it anyone /
anybody. (still having the feminine
in mind)
and as well with neutral ones.
Examples:
Kein
Kind kauf rote Elefanten. = No
child buys red elephants. Keines kauft
rote Elefanten. = No
one / Nobody buys red elephants.
Er sieht kein
Kind. = He does
not see a child. Er sieht keines.
= He does not see
anyone / anybody.
(thinking still of a neutral noun)
Er schenkt es keinemchild. = He
does not give
it to a child.. Er schenkt es keinem.
= He does not
give it anyone /
anybody. (still having the neutral
in mind)
