"Ich esse einen Apfel."
Translation:I eat an apple.
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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
its confusing cause i'm trying to learn and the grammar is bad in German when i translate.
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.
I'd rather say: there is no present progressive in German, so "I eat an apple" and "I am eating an apple" would both translate to "Ich esse einen Apfel". The statement "any verb in german includes 'am/are" is not really true!
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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.
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Why don't you read the tips and notes? The first one for "Basics 1" explains, that in German all the nouns are capitalized.
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.).
I finnaly figured this out. so "esse" is just for you and "ist" is for plural. YESSS!! XD
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.
the accusative reminds me of the accusative in Esperanto! does it work the same way or is it slightly different?
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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.
Is this (my first attempt at my own German sentence) correct? Er ist eine gute Apfel. The online translations say things like: Er ist ein guter Apfel. This is confusing me.
I have a question when you go to germany or talk how will the german or who are talking in german are going to get what im saying for example [Er ist]=means he is eating How are they going to know what im saying really saying because they can thi k that i said he is
Pls help Danke. :)
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.
So let's see if I'm starting to grasp things. Would "the dog is eating an apple" be "der Hund essen einen Apfel?"
Almost - you have to use "essen" in the correct - i.e. 3rd person sing. - conjugation: Der Hund isst einen Apfel.
Ok someone needs to explain this stuff to me in ways I can understand. Everytime I hear the word noun,verb or adverb it takes me like an entire minute to figure out what that even means. What is an adverb anyways?
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".
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).
The answer is weird, I wrote I'm eating a apple, and the solution was I'm eating 1 apple... Did I get it wrong?
Yes, "a apple" is wrong in English -- "apple" starts with a vowel sound, so we say "an apple".
Can any one tell me difference between essen,esse, isst? Thanks in advance...
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.).
How do you say you have eaten an apple ? Is that were gegesst comes how does it work im confused?
What is the different? between , Ich esse einen Appfel. and Ich esse den Appfel. ?
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.
so why is it sometimes "ein apfel" and "einen apfel" at others? What's the difference? How can I know?
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.
what is 'esse ' in this sentence?
A verb. "eat" or "am eating".
It ends in -e and is the verb form appropriate for a subject of ich (I).
Why "i am eating an apel" is wrong?
"apel" is not an English word.
Apfel in English is "apple".
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!