"Ein Mann trinkt Wasser."

Translation: A man is drinking water.

[rpavi]

Is the translation "A man drinks water" wrong. How to differentiate "drinks" and "is drinking" for the translation of "trinkt"?

[Hohenems]

The German sentence means both. There is no continuous aspect in German (is _-ing). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_and_progressive_aspects#German

[LlanaTrace]

Is it me or does the option of urine show up with a lot of the questions about drinking stuff? I know I'm learning the language but I'm not ready for that kind of cultural commitment yet.

[ryno281]

how was i supposed to know to put "one" instead of "the"?

[Hohenems]

Ein = a/an/one --- Der = the

[StefanoV1]

Where are moderators? Please cancel all the previous stupid posts! I want to study German, not to read idiots!

[mattpayne32]

Aren't trinke and trinkt exactly the same

[Hohenems]

I drink = ich trinke
he drinks = er trinkt

Different endings for different subjects.
The verb is conjugate here: http://www.canoo.net/inflection/trinken:V:haben

[micahlynn]

thank you so much!

[marbleface]

trinke:
(I) drink
(to) drink
(I) drink/am drinking

trinkt:
(he/she/it) drinks/is drinking
(you-plural) drink/are drinking
(we/they) drink/are drinking

...Hope this helps! :)

[ZeyadSan]

I always forget to capitalize the nouns -_-

[Bradley_Griffith]

That's the one thing I can consistently remember!

[ZeyadSan]

Wow, I was beginner when I wrote this!

Now, I never forget to capitalize the nouns

even in English, I sometimes forget and capitalize some nouns too XD

[TedSmith1]

How about trinkt wasnt discussed prior and we are expected to spell it straight off?

[carlos.sotelo7]

I had never seen the word trinkt before, yet when i heard it , i knew it was drink --'
are you an English speaker? (as in Native)

[Clamarroan]

It is also correct to say 'a guy' instead of 'a man'

[Krunal_Italiya]

Various form of drinking is used with different noun, can any one tell what form be used with particular noun?

[rmetz527]

How would you say the past tense drank water?

[lilygilder]

That would be: "Ein Mann trank Wasser."

[AndrKaoruF]

What is the difference between Ein and Eine? When do I use each one of then?

[StefanoV1]

Ein=indeterminate article for masculine and neuter nouns.
Eine=indeterminate article for feminine nouns.
Examples:
Ein Mann (M)
Ein Kind (N)
Eine Frau (F)