"Ich bin ein Kind."

Translation: I am a child.

[Mokona89]

So, both a girl and a boy could say 'Ich bin ein Kind', right?

[username9009]

yes

[Jeff223366]

Why can't I choose an with "ein Kind"?

[myra]

use "an" only when it comes before a word with a vowel sound (an artist, an orange)

[Anis.H]

do the 'kind' sound like 'kint' ??

[iWitness]

yes the way to pronounce "Kind" is to say kint

[Dexter0340]

So the German "D" is the English "T"?

[JA1231]

Only at the end of a word. In the middle of a word it makes the typical english "D" sound.

[kostasgr]

why should nouns be capitalised, i don't get this

[Dexter0340]

It also helps you as a language learner keep from getting words mixed up, because if it is capitalized in the middle of the sentence, you know it is a noun (if you aren't already sure)

[username9009]

It's just a quirk of the language. All nouns are capitalised in German. I think it makes things easier.

[qeo]

I don't understand why we put 'ein' not 'eine' in the previous example( ich bin ein Madchen) it should be 'eine' , right? what I know is that 'eine' is an indefinite article for feminine and 'ein' is also an indefinite article but for masculine
plez, could you explain? i don't get it

[idshanks]

First of all, German has three genders: Masculine, Neuter, and Feminine. You're correct that 'ein' is masculine and 'eine' is feminine. However, 'ein' is also used for the neuter gender. 'Mädchen' is a neuter word. You will find it useful to remember that grammatical gender does not necessarily relate to biological gender.

[AudreyRhyne]

Well, for girl it would be 'Ich bin eine Kind' and for boy it would be 'Ich bin win Kind.'

[idshanks]

Be careful here! 'Kind' is a neuter word, not masculine or feminine. Even if the 'kind' is a male or a female, it is still treated as a neuter noun.

• boy: He is a child / Er ist ein Kind.
• girl: She is a child / Sie ist ein Kind.

It's like the word Person (german for 'person', surprise surprise! :P) - it is a feminine word, but even if the person is a man, the word is still treated as feminine:

• man: He is a person / Er ist eine Person
• woman: She is a person / Sie ist eine Person