Lysimeter experiments with maize and incubation experiments showed that increased ammonium concentrations in soil reduced nitrification rates. A modified Lees and Quastel kinetic model was proposed for predicting the relation between initial ammonium concentration in soil and nitrification rate. A term Mi strongly dependent on initial ammonium concentration ([NH40]) was introduced into the model which took the form: dy/dt = R(A − y)(Mi + y), where R is a rate constant, y represents the concentration of formed nitrate and A is an asymptotic value of initial ammonium concentration. Mi was obtained by a curve fitting procedure applied to experimental data. An exponential decay of Mi with [NH4]0 was formulated. The modified model thus obtained provides an effective tool for predicting nitrification rates related to a wide range of ammonium concentrations.