keen / keng

Negative Article: Keen and Keng

Level 1

Ech hu keen Auto means I don't have a car. Use keen (or kee) for masculine and neuter nouns, and keng for feminine nouns and all plurals.

How It Works

1. The forms

  • Masculine: keen Hond, keen Auto, kee Vëlo
  • Neuter: keen Haus, kee Kand, kee Buch
  • Feminine: keng Zäit, keng Kaz
  • Plural: keng Kanner, keng Still

2. From en and eng to keen and keng
Change en to keen and eng to keng. Where there was no article, add keng:

  • Ech hunn en Hond. → Ech hu keen Hond.
  • Ech hunn eng Kaz. → Ech hu keng Kaz.
  • Ech hu Kanner. → Ech hu keng Kanner.

Notice that hunn also becomes hu before the k.

3. Keen or kee?
Keen keeps its n before a vowel and before d, h, n, t and z (keen Auto, keen Hond) and drops it before other consonants (kee Vëlo, kee Problem).

4. Keen, not net
Do not say net en or net eng. When the noun would have en, eng or no article, negate it with keen or keng. For everything else, use net. See net vs keen.

In the dative the forms are kengem (masculine and neuter), kenger (feminine) and kengen (plural). On its own, keen can also mean no one (see jiddereen/keen).

Examples (6)

  1. Ech hu keen Auto.

    I don't have a car.

    Auto is masculine and starts with a vowel, so keen keeps its n.

  2. Hien huet kee Vëlo.

    He doesn't have a bike.

    Keen becomes kee before v.

  3. Mir hu keng Zäit.

    We have no time.

    Zäit is feminine, so the form is keng.

  4. Si hu keng Kanner.

    They have no children.

    Keng is also the plural form.

  5. Hatt huet keen Handy.

    She doesn't have a mobile phone.

    Handy is masculine, and the n stays before h.

  6. Kee Problem!

    No problem!

    A fixed everyday phrase.

Common Mistakes

  • Negating en or eng with net.

    Ech hunn net en Auto.
    Ech hu keen Auto.

    A noun that would take en or eng is negated with keen or keng, not with net.

  • Using keen with a feminine noun.

    Mir hu keen Zäit.
    Mir hu keng Zäit.

    Zäit is feminine, so it needs keng.

  • Forgetting the n-rule.

    Hien huet keen Vëlo.
    Hien huet kee Vëlo.

    Before v the n drops, so keen is written kee.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

keen / kengLevel 1Negative Article: Keen and Keng

Learn This First

Before Negative Article: Keen and Keng, learn Indefinite Article: En and Eng.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

keenkeng