"Sie isst einen Apfel."

Translation: She eats an apple.

[arturopkmn]

why einen? whats the difference between ein and einen?

[giovanagpr]

"Ein" means "a/an" for masculine and neutral words that practice the action (subject). "Einen" means "a/an" for masculine words that recive the action (object). For example: "Ein Junge isst einen Apfel".

[may883311]

Best explanation!!! Thank you so much !!!

[Hohenems]

Well arturopkmn...it's a story about love, deception, greed, lust and…unbridled enthusiasm.

You can read about it here:
http://coerll.utexas.edu/gg/gr/cas_01.html

After that, the answer you're looking for lies here (Specifically under "Indefinite articles"):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_declension

If you want the Coles' notes version, it is "einen" because it is in the accusative case.

Hope that helps, and enjoy the read.

[eskerjim]

Fyi, someone did get your Seinfeld reference...

[MosesJohn]

Helpful links. Danke.

[Peach2500]

haha nein verstehe

[CamertonG]

In German there are four major "cases": nominative, accusative, dative and genitive. ein (masculin a) is used in the nominative case. Nominative case is when the noun is the subject of the sentence e.g. Das is ein Apfel (that is an apple). You use einen in the accusative case which is when the verb is the direct object in the sentence. An example of this could be Ich habe einen Bruder (I have a brother).

[mahmoudsal347210]

I think its Akkusativ

[HellenKarollyne]

Sie = they , but now Sie = she ?? Why??

[TheSniff]

Sie is a bit of an odd case. Here, sie is at the beginning of the sentence which means that there has to be a capital at the beginning. There's also Sie which is different, but you can tell that it is sie in this case because of the verb conjugation.

[Rachel403189]

How do you tell if Sie is going to be they or she?

[dharanish_87]

So this sentence can mean both
"She is eating an apple" and
"she eats an Apple"?

[eskerjim]

Exactly.

[Peterpym]

how do I know if "Sie" means "she" or "they"?

[Jalal__]

By looking at whether the verb ends in "-en" (plural Sie) or the feminine case

[sean_rouge]

But isn't Sie also you?

[Hohenems]

Sie is also you, but "sie" is she/they and "Sie" is you. Since it is at the beginning of a sentence you can't look for the capital "S" to determine who it is, you have to look at the verb ending.

• Sie isst = she eats
• Sie essen = you (formal, singular or plural) eat, they eat (you need context to figure out which)

Hope that helps.

[ItPeteHere]

I don't understand how sie is different from Sie

[Jalal__]

Capital "Sie" is they, "sie" is she.

[BarryAllen409141]

It also can be translated to "they are eating an apple" right? How can we know?

[Jalal__]

For it to be they, the verb has to be "Essen"

[SandeshMem]

Can someone clarify the ver usage for eat?
Ich -> esse
Wir -> essen
Du? Ihr?
Er/sie? Sie(plural)?

[SaravanaBa2]

I tried "You are eating an apple". But its a wrong answer it seems. Can anybody help?

[b.v.q]

does "sie" in German mean both "they" and "she" words?

[Naako_]

Why is it "she eats" and not "she is eating"

[Shrek841169]

Niemand schreibt die Antwort? ....

[SpencerRic668441]

I think I understand the rules and clues surrounding Sie/sie and sie

[GeraldBale]

So do you use einen when there is no person after?

[TheSniff]

You use einen for a direct object

[raphi.s]

Bug Report: "ist" is accepted instead of "isst" without saying there was a typo, but it shouldn't be.

[Chu517205]

How do you know if sie is refering to she or they?

[Jalal__]

From the verb. Plural "Sie" verbs end in -en

[MajedKhan5]

There are 2 meanings of sie

[Ola146359]

It was 3xactly tge same answer..??

[Evan_RL]

soooooo confuced lol

[ThorGaffney]

I got it wrong and thought it was They are eating an apple. But no it was She eats an apple. Two completely different meanings that are so similar because of the word Sie, often gets me.

[taninosbil]

When is it eine and einen?

[Fereshteh1988]

I wrot taht corect but doulingo got false . Why?

[mandanaxganjali]

Hi there

[Hail_seitan]

I wrote "Sie ist einen Apfel" and it was correct.

So she is an apple?
I did type what I heard...

[._.Danny._.]

When is "sie" she and they?

[Joe202111510]

Why is it isst? Does this have to do with the gender, case, etc.?