Because the noun (ein Apfel) is being acted on by the verb. (in this example the apple is being eaten)

The "ein" changes to "einen" when the noun is being acted on. This is known as the accusative case. See for more info - http://german.about.com/library/blcase_sum.htm

I agree with 'ein' (not 'eine' though, as it's for female nouns). This is my logic: 'Apfel' is male, so it's 'der Apfel'. Since 'ein' is also for male (complementary to 'der') nouns it should be 'ein Apfel'. But it's wrong in this case :(

because the apple is object (Akkusative)

Ein is a but we dont say a apple do we? We say an apple therefore we use an in german aswell, which happens to be einin! Thats why

Ein is used for male articles. Eine for female. Einen means an. Just like english, a apple doesnt make as much sense as an apple.

It's okay, Vulcan. I am having a hard time with the grammar, too. My plan is to just keep chipping away at it until it sticks :)

The thing to remember is that any verb in german includes 'am/are', so Ich esse means I [am] eating. adjectives don't though, so you need to say Ich bin gut, for I am good.

In general all the three persons oft the singular habe different forms of conjugation. You have to get used to it ;-)

For the plural forms it is easier: first and third Person are always like the infintive form, except the verb "sein". And the second person in plural is often similar to the third person singular.

In the case oft the verb " essen" it is a bit special, the second and third person singular are similar.

ich esse, du isst, er isst, wir essen, ihr esst, sie essen.

Please read the other comments, it has been explained several times. Or use Ctrl + F on this forum page and search for conjugation.

Because is not the third person singular (ich esse, [...] er/sie/es isst...).

Almost - you have to use "essen" in the correct - i.e. 3rd person sing. - conjugation: Der Hund isst einen Apfel.

It's the wrong conjugation. Same reason why you can't say "I eats" or "he eat". For "ich" the correct conjugation is "esse". "Isst" is for "er/sie/es" (he/she/it) or "du" (you).

That's the difference between:

I eat the apple (this sentence has the definite article "the"). In German - Ich esse den Apfel

I eat an apple (this sentence has the indefinite article "a/an"). In German - Ich esse einen Apfel

In the first sentence you are referring to a specific apple ("the apple") that's why "the" is known as the definite article. Hope that helps.

Both mean "an apple", but "Ein Apfel" is in the Nominative case so it can be used as the subject of a sentence : "Ein Apfel ist gut." or as the Predicate Nominative which refers back to the subject after the verb "to be" or "to become": "Das ist ein Apfel." (Das = ein Apfel) and "Einen Apfel" is in the Accusative case which can be used for the Direct Object of the verb (that which is acted upon by the verb) "Ich esse einen Apfel." Also, some German prepositions require the object of the preposition to be in Accusative case. (We will have to memorize those prepositions.)

http://german.about.com/library/blcase_sum.htm Case http://german.about.com/library/blcase_nom.htm (Nominative case) http://german.about.com/library/blcase_acc.htm (Accusative case) http://german.about.com/library/blcase_acc2.htm (Prepositions for Accusative)

In English you need to use "an" for words that start with a vowel sound.

Just have a look at the present conjugation of the verb "essen".

http://german.about.com/od/verbs/a/Verb-essen.htm

That would be "the apple", here it's "an apple".

Of course it is wrong.

i eat = ich esse (present tense or Präsens)

i ate = ich aß (past tense or Präteritum)

You need to use "I'm" or "I am", but yes, that is otherwise correct. Generally when using Duolingo, you will have fewer rejected answers if you don't use contractions (like "I'm", "don't", "would've", "can't", "she's", "They'll", etc.).

Not quite, but you're getting the right idea that one verb has different forms depending on if it matches with "you" or "I" or "he" or "they", etc. These forms are called conjugations, and they are formed by conjugating the verb (choosing the right ending to put on it).

Ich esse = "I eat"
Er isst = "He eats"

Note that English also conjugates the verb (compare eat with eats), although where English recycles the same form in multiple situations (also "they eat"), German has more versions (sie essen).

Duolingo's lesson tips show the conjugation of essen if you scroll down. You can also look up the full conjugation of any verb on Verbix or Canoo.net. Those sites have a lot of extra information you don't need yet, so just focus on the 'Present Indicative' section.

They are different forms of the same verb, called conjugations. Read the lesson tips when using Duolingo in a web browser, and read the other comments which explain this.

These are different conjugations of the verb "essen" (to eat):

• du isst: you eat
• er/sie/es isst: he/she/it eats
• wir essen: we eat
• sie/Sie essen: they/you [formal] eat

NB: verbs are written in lowecase. Das Essen (uppercase E), however, means "the food".

Just have a look at this page:

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Accusative-Case

If you scroll down on that page you will find the conjugation of the verb "essen", which should answer your question. And if you have a mix-up with "isst" and "ist" you will also find the conjugation of the verb "sein".

Yes, that is right. But in Esperanto every noun is marked consequently in the case of accusative, an -n as far as i remember. Same in Hungarian with a -t there :-) In German only the male nouns get an accusative form of the article and in a few cases a suffix.

Context. If you're talking about someone's profession for instance, and the answer is Er ist Richter, you know the meaning is he is a judge, not he's eating a judge.

FYi He's eating is Er isst, not ist.

Please ask this again and use some of these . , ? so that we can understand what you want.

I ate an apple [...] why eat:
The German "ich esse" is present tense, so the English translation must be present as well, therefore it's "I eat", not "I ate" (which would be "ich aß" in German).

or a apple
"a apple" is wrong in English, it must be "an apple". "an" is used instead of "a", when the following word begins with a vowel sound (as apple does)

why not ich bin esse einen Apfel
You try to form a progressive present in German, which does not exist. There are no progressive tenses in German. Both "I am eating" and "I eat" translate to "ich esse".

By the way, the first two questions have already been answered - so next time please first read the other comments.

You could read - e.g. on wikipedia - what these are. Then the explanations here will be easier to understand for you.

No, the first "e" is pronounced short, so it must be written with "ss", not with "ß".

Yes, "a apple" is wrong in English -- "apple" starts with a vowel sound, so we say "an apple".

Have a look at "Conjugations of the verb essen (to eat)" in the lesson notes for the "Accusative" skill: https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Accusative-Case

Basically, which one to use depends on the subject (ich, du, etc.).

Du hast einen Apfel gegessen.

Basically the same as between "I am eating an apple" and "I am eating the apple".

(By the way, it's spelled Apfel in German, with pf rather than ppf.)

Ich esse den Apfel. = I am eating the apple. (accusative, definite)

Ich esse einen Apfel. = I am eating an apple. (accusative, indefinite)

Both are accusative and both are correct sentences that mean different things.

"I ate an apple" is past tense.

ich esse einen Apfel is present tense.

ein Apfel is the nominative case, einen Apfel the accusative case.

The subject of a verb is in the nominative case -- so you would use ein Apfel when the apple is the one doing or being something.

The direct object of a verb is in the accusative case -- so you would use einen Apfel when the apple is having something done to it.

For example: Ein Apfel liegt auf dem Tisch. Ich sehe einen Apfel auf dem Tisch. "An apple lies on the table. I see an apple on the table."

In the first sentence, the apple is the one that is doing the lying on the table; in the second one, the apple is the one that gets seen by me.

The accusative case is also used after certain prepositions.

Hi! "Der" is masculine noun, therefore it declines to akkusativ in this case, that's why the "n" is there. Den Apfel, einen Apfel.

And "ein Apfel" would be "one apple" in most cases

Yes.

Why don't you read the tips and notes? The first one for "Basics 1" explains, that in German all the nouns are capitalized.

?

What do you do every morning? I eat an apple.

Was machst du jeden Morgen? Ich essen einen Apfel.

Because the subject is ich and not wir or sie.

Have another look at the lesson notes: https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Animals-1

No, it can't, it would grammatically be wrong in German., as there are no continuous tenses in German. If you need to express that something is happening at the moment (where you'd use the present continuous in English), you can add the word "gerade" (at the moment) in German: Ich esse gerade einen Apfel.

No reason. Nobody decided to sit down and decide which words use which genders - it's just how the language developed naturally over time. We just have to memorise it, unfortunately.

So ein Quatsch.

I think it helps for some words like "essen" which is the verb "to eat" and also the form used for present tense "eat" for we, they and formal you, while Essen is the noun "Food". It is nice to easily tell which words are nouns. Why do other languages not capitalize nouns?