"The woman eats an apple."
Translation:Die Frau isst einen Apfel.
74 Comments
I don't underer stand why "ein Apfel" would be considered wrong, specially at this level.
I know this isn't actually explained anywhere on Duolingo (yet), so I can understand why this is confusing. Here's the thing. In this sentence, "the woman" is the subject and "an apple" is the direct object (the thing the woman is acting on).
In German, there is a concept of "case" that applies to nouns. What "case" a noun has depends on whether or not it's being used as the subject of the sentence (called "nominative case"), the direct object (called "accusative case") or the indirect object (called "dative case"). What version of "ein" you use depends on BOTH the GENDER of the noun and the CASE of the noun.
In this particular example, Apfel is a masculine noun (male gender), and, because it is being used as a direct object in this sentence, it is in the accusative case. Male nouns in the accusative case use an -en ending on the base "ein", and that's why it's "einen" here.
I know this is confusing when it's written out verbally as I've done here. What you really need is a table that shows you which version of "ein" to use for all the cases and genders. And I've got one for you! Please see the following Wikipedia article (specifically the table called "Indefinite article endings (mixed)" near the top).
This is the BEST explanation I have found ANYWHERE on this topic! Thank you so much! Do you know of any websites that have comparable diagramming of the sentences? with nomitive/ indirect
I came back to make all my topics gold again and I missed this. This is definitely the best explanation of this I have seen anywhere and it is simple enough for me to follow. Danke sehr!
Brilliant answer and thanks so much for the link to the table! I understand!!! :D
This is quite confusing. Why wouldnt they give you rhis information before starting each section? So you can understand what to do better?
Ive been wondering why when i start a lesson i just get thrown into rote memorization basicly. Wish they had worksheets to accompany the lessons as well as breakdowns of thi gs like this
You have to consider the gender of the subject(she) and not the object(apple), thts why "ein" is wrong
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The inflection of the article does depend on the object's gender. "ein" is wrong because the verb requires an accusative object and "Apfel" is a masculine noun.
It's an irregular verb, so there isn't necessarily a logical reason for that, unfortunately!
der Apfel is a masculine noun.
ein Apfel is in the nominative case (the subject) einen Apfel is in the accusative case (the direct object)
Ich esse den Apfel. 'den Apfel' is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object of the verb 'essen' (or conjugated to 'esse' owing to 'ich')
An easy question to determine whether a noun is in the accusative case: I am eating an apple. What am I eating??? an apple. Thus, "Ich esse (insert noun and definite article in accusative case.)
Hope this clears up further issues with the accusative case.
Is there something wrong with the translations? I've received "Einen Apfel isst die Frau" as the proper translation, which I'm inclined to believe is, though humorous, not correct.
Isst is the 3rd person singular form of "Essen", and "Die Frau" is the third person singular object doing the eating.
The translation showed for me as "Diese" Frau instead of "Die" Frau, though at the top of this discussion the sentence uses "Die" Frau. Can anyone explain why or is this just a mistake?
Can I assume that the best way to know gender is really by familiarity? (ie learned mainly by usage, because not always logical)
There are some rules that in most cases can help you to figure out what gender is a noun for example 60% of nouns that ends in -el, -er, en, are masculine, but that is almost half of it so yes the best way is by familiarity, I would recommend the book Hammer's German Grammar and Usage for more information =)
there is nothing intuitive about this, "You used the definite "den" here, instead of the indefinite "einen".
I am really confused between das, die, der and den. They are making me insane!
Don't worry, you will get over it
I just try to memorize for now not to over analyse
Same here, and i used to know the differences! If someone could explain these as they explained ein/essen I'd appreciate it!
Einen Apfel and den Apfel are used in accusative, when the apple is the direct object, the difference between einen and den is the same as in english "a" and "the".
I was saying it right and then the translation appeared "Einen Apfel isst die Frau".
I really don like it because I just started and it didn't say anything about that and I typed " eine Apfel " and of course it is wrong.
I am having problems with das Apfel also I am only on the third lesson and will stay on it untill it is right Good night
Keep it up
It will come
No idea. However, most German nouns ending with '-el' eg. 'der Apfel' are masculine. You'll have to learn them. eg. das Hund sounds awkward to me, it is der Hund. You'll get used to it after lots of practice.
Oh, okay. It compared "ein Apfel" to "einen Apfel," and read "isst" as "ist."
I used the ihr form esst instead of isst because i cant remember which form goes to which form
I'm confused between "isst" and "esst". Can someone explain their difference? Thanks.
