"He is a man."
Translation:Er ist ein Mann.
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I am not understanding the difference between einen and ein. Why is einen incorrect in this sentence?
With masculine nouns like Mann, the indefinite article einen is used for accusative case, ein for nominative.
When you have a predicate noun (like Mann in this sentence), you use nominative. Here is some further reading... Pay attention to the second paragraph as it shows you which verbs to look out for...
http://coerll.utexas.edu/gg/gr/cas_02.html
No. Same verb, different conjugation depending on subject. You are = du bist. He is = er ist.
Here's the conjugation table for "sein" (to be):
http://canoo.net/inflection/sein:V:sein
Both bist and ist is the verb conjugation for the irregular verb sein (to be). Here is a conjugation chart for it: ich - bin = I am du - bist = you are er - ist = he is sie - ist = she is es - ist = it is wir - sind = we are sie - sind = they are Sie - sind = formal you are ihr - seid = ya'll are So basically they are the same word conjugated to different pronouns. And no verbs do not have masculine, feminine, or neuter forms their forms change based on the noun/pronoun.
Er = he
Sie = You (formal), or, if at the start of a sentence Sie could be you (formal), she, they, depending on verbs
sie = they, she, depending on verbs
Here's a list of personal pronouns:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_declension#Personal_pronouns.5B3.5D
Hope that helps!
Mann = man, an adult male human, opposite of a woman, can also be used for "husband"
Mensch = person (male or female), man (in the sense of mankind), human being
Can someone explain the grammar on where the ‘is’ is, also the placement of words with the ‘is’
Why is it not einen if Mann is the direct object of the sentence? If Mann is in the accusative case, then shouldn't einen be used?
Mann is not the direct object of the sentence.
"to be" is not a transitive verb that takes an object. (One hint is that you can't make a passive sentence: you can't turn "he is a man" into "a man is been by him".)
Rather, "to be" is a copula (linking verb) that links a subject to a predicate -- and such predicates are (almost always) in the nominative case in German.
Thus you have nominative ein Mann after er ist.
What is der mean
"the" or "that".
Sometimes "this".
Also other meanings that you will come across later in the course.