Abstract: This dissertation deals with nominal constructions in nicht- ([Nicht-S]) in German from a synchronic perspective within the framework of construction grammar. On the basis of a corpus of [Nicht-S] drawn from the DWDS database, it is shown that the [Nicht-S] pattern is a morphological construction in which nicht- is a prefix. [Nicht-S] can have three different interpretations, which are called ontological, classifying and normative, depending on the base noun and pragmatic information provided in the context. An analysis is proposed whereby they are represented as instantiations of a more general construction.