"Ich esse einen Apfel."
Translation:I eat an apple.
66 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
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
2920
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.
2920
Why don't you read the tips and notes? The first one for "Basics 1" explains, that in German all the nouns are capitalized.
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.
2920
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.
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.
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.).
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.
I ts not right
Bug reports are always welcome, but to be effective, please include as much detail as possible.
Which sentence are you talking about? "it" is not specific enough -- please quote the entire sentence that you wish to point out an error in.
Which part of it is wrong?
Why is it wrong?
What should the correction be, in your opinion?
Thank you!