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- "Sie isst einen Apfel."
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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.
can i say einen is for a,i,u,e,o as how in english?? ein : a einen : an the usage of ein or einen is like "a" or "a"n which depends on the object.. example: a car & an apple i am only level 3 so, i also wanna confirm the principle that i perceived from the study..
No. No such rule exists in German (einen before a vowel).
There are four "cases" in German. Depending on what the case is, "ein" gets changed. Go to the two links I posted to learn about cases, and when "ein" becomes "einen".
I see that you haven't yet completed "Basics 1". When you complete it, you will have access to "Basics 2". The introduction to "Basics 2" has a write up on cases. Here is the link for it, but I'm not sure if you can access it without having reached that level.
http://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Basics-2
If you can't access it, just finish Basics 1 and you'll be able to see it.
I hope that helps! If you still have trouble after the links, I'll try to answer your follow up questions if you want.
No, it does not resemble the articles which are used in English before vowels. Ein and einen are used for same words depending upon it's place. Please go through the tips in each section thoroughly before starting the lesson.
"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".
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).
It's actually eine but einen is accusative . Eine is for masculine and ein for neutral
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.
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.
In this sentence, "sie" is the first word of the sentence. Since every sentence must start with an upper case letter, so does "sie". If you're wondering, this is the third person singular "sie", not the second person (formal address) "Sie".
How can you tell the difference when there is no other context? Are they accompanied by formal and an inform verb forms?
Yes, sie has the verb conjugated with a -t at the end and Sie has the verb conjugated with a -en at the end
So this sentence can mean both "She is eating an apple" and "she eats an Apple"?
By looking at whether the verb ends in "-en" (plural Sie) or the feminine case
It also can be translated to "they are eating an apple" right? How can we know?
Can someone clarify the ver usage for eat? Ich -> esse Wir -> essen Du? Ihr? Er/sie? Sie(plural)?
I tried "You are eating an apple". But its a wrong answer it seems. Can anybody help?
Bug Report: "ist" is accepted instead of "isst" without saying there was a typo, but it shouldn't be.
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.
I am listening zee, but I guess depends on where it is located on the statement.
Are there any guidelines for the use of 'einen'? When do we know that we should use 'einen' and not 'ein' or eine'?
You use "einen" just like when you use "den." It depends if the noun is a direct object. For example, "I like pizza," "He builds a fort," "She drives the car." Pizza, a fort, and the car are all what the action happens to and so are all direct objects. Whenever the noun is a D.O., you use "einen" instead of "ein" or "eine" just as you use "den" instead of "der." In "Sie isst einen Apfel" the apple is the D.O., so "ein" becomes "einen." Hope this helps!
Mas. Fem. Neu.
</pre>
Nom. ein eine ein
Acc. einen eine ein
Dat. einem einer einem
Gen. eines einer eines
In this case, Sie (She) is the subject (nominative case) and Apple is the direct object (Accusative case). Apple being masculine, "einen" will be used for it (according to the table of indefinite articles).
It'd be easy for you if you learn the grammar rules first. Hope this helps! :)
You use einen when the noun ia the one "receiving" the action.. For example what is beeing eaten? The apple and so on... Its named Akkusative in German.
