You must remember that the word "Sie" means they and she. To know WHICH one is being used, you must now read the next part. It is liest which is the fem form of read. If it was they, it would have been lesen.

An easy way to remember if its 'she' or 'they'. Just look at the word that follows the word 'sie' and use the rhyme if theres 't' then its 'she'

'You' as in the formal 'you'? That would be 'Sie lesen eine Zeitung.' The formal 'you' (Sie) is grammatically equivalent to third person plural (sie=they).

I had the same thing I put in they read the newspaper

pls read grammer carefully :(

Liest mean that she is only a woman not more

Because "eine" is used. "You are reading A newspaper". Your answer would be in response to "Du leist die Zeitung"

Because eine is a or one.

The sentence dose not have "ihr" or "du that is wy

Because it says Ein, and Sie means she.

I'm not saying that you are doing it this way, but just wanted to make clear:

Don't think them as different types of "the". You need to hardwire your brain to think them as parts that belong to the words following it. It indicates the gender of the word. That is a crucial part of the language. If you ask yourself "which form of "the" does this sentence need?" you are thinking it the wrong way. The questions should be "what is the gender of the following word?" then "what is the case I need?"

When you answer both of these questions you end up with the correct article.

When learning vocabulary always learn the gender too. Not just "Tisch" or "Toilettenbürstenbenutzungsanweisung" but "der Tisch" and "die Toilettenbürstenbenutzungsanweisung" ;)

Me too:(

See Schorschi's comments on this page.

In short, they mean the same thing but ein is used for masculine and neuter nouns and eine for feminine and plural nouns.

All nouns in German have a 'grammatical gender': masculine, feminine or neuter. The gender of a noun affects many of the little words that are also in the sentence - they change in one way for masculine nouns, and another way for feminine nouns, etc. There are a lot of rules, but also some patterns to them.

Keep learning, practicing, reading and asking questions, and eventually your brain will make sense of it. Good luck!

With my above table of declensions, you should have been able to answer the question yourself.

You correctly identified the gender of "Apfel" (m) and "Zeitung" (f). Next you have to figure out what declension to apply to each noun in the sentences.

In "ich habe x" or "ich lese x", "x" is always in accusative. So, looking above in my table, the declensions of the indefinite article for a masculine and feminine singular noun in accusative are "einen" and "eine", respectively. So, the sentences must read:

Ich habe einen Apfel.

Sie liest eine Zeitung.

EINEN MEANS AN. EINE MEANS A.

The first is She reads a newspaper, the second is She reads THE newspaper

She reads A newspaper, She reads THE newspaper.

Aha, so it's not just me. I think maybe they put a lesson that should be accusative or dative into the genitive lesson. I reported it (just on one sentence, because I'm not going to report every single one.)

It is accusative, but einen only appears with a masculine noun, e.g. Sie liest einen Roman (Roman=novel). Zeitung, however, is feminine: die Zeitung.

That's just Duolingo being confusing. Either is fine.

In English if we wanted to count things we would say: "One newspaper, two newspapers, three newspaper...". But we could also say "That is a newspaper". Different words for "one" and "a".

German does not have this. It uses the indefinite article (ein/eine/etc.) in both situations: Eine Zeitung, zwei Zeitungen, drei Zeitungen. Or just Das ist eine Zeitung.

German does have a number "one" (eins), but it is only used for numbers not quantities (i.e. in reading out a phone number, house number, doing mathematics, etc.).

Depending on context, it may be more natural to translate eine as "a/an" or "one". I would say that this sentence is more natural as "a", but "one" is also correct. In English though, this would be giving some emphasis: "She is reading one newspaper, not two!". You could express this same emphasis in German with emphasis on eine when speaking too.

You're missing "a".

because sie isnt they in this context. because the verb read has a st on the end of the word

While Sie can mean "they" it can also mean "she". To understand which sie this is, you need to understand when to use what word for "reading". In this case, it is she because "liest" is the fem form of reading. If it was lesen, it would be they.

"Du liest eine Zeitung." or using the formal address: "Sie lesen eine Zeitung." which is grammatically equivalent to (and hence indistinguishable by itself from) saying "They read a newspaper."

That depends on a number of factors. First off, in the sample sentence "Sie liest eine Zeitung", "eine Zeitung" appears in accusative case and "Zeitung" is feminine. If you were to use the same sentence structure with the word "book", which is neuter in German, the sentence would read "Sie liest ein Buch." If, however, a masculine noun was used, for instance, "the report", it would read as follows: "Sie liest einen Bericht."

Up to here, all nouns in all (three) genders appear in accusative.

Simply changing the case used already changes the declensions of the nouns and articles used.

Let's say, the sentence "a newspaper is white" was used. Here, "newspaper" appears in nominative case.

So the translations for all three genders would be:

Eine Zeitung ist weiß.

Ein Buch ist weiß.

Ein Bericht ist weiß.

Note the different endings of "ein" - being different from "eine", "ein" and "einen" in accusative.

It gets more varied with genitive and dative cases, that I am omitting for brevity.

ein is the masculine or netuer nominative case, while einen is the masculine accusative case.

The formal you (Sie) is grammatically equivalent to third person plural (they). So, if you know your conjugations you can easily tell by whether it's third person singular (sie=she) or third person plural (Sie=they or (formal) you). Another hint is that the formal you (Sie) is always capitalized, unlike "she" (sie). However, this will only help you if "sie" appears in the middle of a sentence and not at the beginning.

Your answer should also be correct. Did you report it?

Same for me

Well, when the word is in the beginning of the sentence, it is also capitalized.

The most important thing however is always the verb. When you can conjugate your verbs, you won't have any problems with that.

I quote from a grammar book: "There are two forms for "you" in German 'du' and Sie. du [singular] and ihr [plural] are used for close friends, family and children. Sie [singular] and Sie [plural] are used for politeness and with people you do not know. Sie is written with a capital S and the verb used with Sie has the same form as that of the 3rd person Plural. sie can be "she" or "they" depending on the verb ending. for example "sie ist" = she is sie sind = they are if 'sie' is NOT the FIRST word in the sentence then "Sie sind = You are" which could be singular "you" or plural "you". The problem arises when "sie" is the first word in the sentence and has to have a capital letter for S in which case it can mean sie = she, sie = they or Sie = you. The clue to whether Sie at the start of the sentence is she, they or you depends on the 'person' of the verb that follows "Sie". In the case of "Sie liest eine Zeitung" The Sie is really sie = she because liest is the 3rd person SINGULAR of lesen. "Sie lesen could mean "they are reading" if Sie is really "sie" with a capital S for the beginning of the sentence. OR Sie lesen could mean "You are reading" if the 'sie' is really Sie with the capital S and the 3rd person PLURAL of the verb. In short "liest" tells you that Sie is really "sie = she" Heute sie liest = Today she is reading Heute sie lessen = Today they are reading Heute Sie lessen = Today you are reading Complicated but I hope this helps Gilly

If you are talking about the formal you (Sie), i.e. why does the sentence not mean "you are reading a newspaper," it's because that would be "Sie lesen eine Zeitung." The formal you (Sie) is grammatically equivalent to third person plural. So the latter sentence could also mean "they are reading a newspaper."

The conjugations of "lesen" in present tense are:

Ich lese.

Du liest.

Er/Sie/Es liest.

Wir lesen.

Ihr lest.

Sie lesen.

So, you can see why the sentence can only mean "she is reading a newspaper."

It's because of the case and the gender of the noun "eine" is linked to. Here it is "Zeitung," which is feminine - die Zeitung. "Zeitung" appears as the accusative object in this sentence, and the ending for "ein" with a feminine noun in accusative is "eine."

If instead the object was "Buch" (book), which is neuter (das Buch), the sentence would read "Sie liest ein Buch."

If the object was "Roman" (novel), which is masculine (der Roman), the sentence would read "Sie liest einen Roman."

So the word endings of "ein" in accusative (singular) in the three genders are "einen" (masc.), "eine" (fem.) and "ein" (neut.).

You may also want to read my comment on a related topic at https://www.duolingo.com/comment/526169, in which I am explaining word endings for possessive pronouns. The principle is the same. I am also mentioning the nominative case there.

Look around. That question has already been answered in this thread.

In German there are two versions of saying "you": "Sie" (formal) and "du" (informal). "Du", of course, is second person singular. "Sie", however, is equivalent to third person plural. So, the two possible translations of "You are reading the newspaper" are:

"Sie lesen die Zeitung." and

"Du liest die Zeitung."

The first sentence, however, if you don't have any context, can also translate back to English as

"They are reading the newspaper." (3rd person singular).

All conjugations of "lesen" in present tense are:

Ich lese die Zeitung.

Du liest die Zeitung.

Er/Sie/Es liest die Zeitung.

Wir lesen die Zeitung.

Ihr lest die Zeitung.

Sie lesen die Zeitung.

masculine = male, feminine = female, neuter = neither masculine, nor feminine.

a newspaper is eine Zeitung and the newspaper is die Zeitung

No. "Ein"/"eine" can both be translated to "one" or "a."

The different word endings of "ein" depend on gender and declension.

For instance, the feminine word "Frau" is prepended by "eine": eine Frau.

"Mann," however, being masculine, is prepended bei "ein": ein Mann.

A neuter noun, "Schwein," is prepended bei "ein," as well: ein Schwein.

The above are all in nominative case.

When you get into other declensions there are, for feminine nouns:

• Eine Frau - nominative.

• Einer Frau - genitive.

• Einer Frau - dative.

• Eine Frau - accusative.

With "Mann" (masculine) it's as follows:

• Ein Mann - nominative.

• Eines Mannes - genitive.

• Einem Mann - dative.

• Einen Mann - accusative.

And "Schwein" (neuter):

• Ein Schwein - nominative.

• Eines Schweines - genitive.

• Einem Schwein - dative.

• Ein Schwein - accusative.

If it makes you happy, same difference.

A is an article and one is an adjective.

Zeitschrift.

German does not differentiate. Read the lesson tips from the first lesson, which explain this at the bottom of the page.

Sie in German pronunciation sounds like "zee" in English pronunciation, yes.

Generally, though, it's tricky to describe pronunciation with text, as everyone has a different accent. Bookmark the website Forvo, where you can listen to recordings from native-speakers.

Because Zeitung is a feminine noun (i.e. die Zeitung. You just have to memorise this when you learn the word for the first time).

When you would otherwise use die for a feminine noun, you need to use eine. The other comments have good explanations, so have a read of them too. There's also Duolingo's own tips page for this lesson (scroll down). Good luck!

A.

the - der, die, das

a - einer, eine, eines

English distinguishes between a ongoing, continuous action and a habitual action. "I am reading" means NOW. "I am (in the process of, currently engaged in, at present involved in) reading a newspaper". "I read" means I read habitually, I read on specific occasions, or I read specific papers. "I read newspapers" means that I am in the habit of reading newspapers on a regular basis. "I read newspapers every week". Habit. "I read a paper on Thursdays". Habit. "I read expensive newspapers" Specific, habitual. But "I am reading an expensive newspaper today". Non-specific, continuous action. German does not make this distinction, and nor does French, for example. But English does, and so do other languages - Irish, for example, but with slightly different application. I read = Léim. I am reading = Táim ag léamh. Táim = I am (now). Bím = I am (habitually, regularly). Táim fuar inniu = I am cold today. Bím fuar i gcónaí = I am always cold.

Most, if not all regular verbs in third person singular end in “s“.

I read

You read

He/she/it reads

We read

You read

They read

Here's “to have“:

I have

You have

He/she/it has

We have

You have

They have

It can't be “Sie“ (formal address), because then the sentence would read “Sie lesen eine Zeitung.“

Grammatically, “Sie“ (formal address) is identical to third person plural (“sie“).

So, “Sie lesen“, could be “You are reading“ (formal address) or “they are reading“.

And so “sie liest“ (third person singular) has to be “she is reading“.

Because einen is the accusative form for a masculine noun. Zeitung, however, is feminine.

So, the following would be correct:

Sie liest einen Roman. (= novel)

Der Roman. (masculine)

Die Zeitung. (feminine)

And for completeness' sake, for a neuter noun it's ein.

Sie liest ein Magazin.

Das Magazin. (neuter)

Do you have a link for the other module? I don't know how to get there.

There are multiple ways to tell.

Conjugation

You should never mix up "she" with "they" and "you", as the verb is conjugated differently.

Examples:

• sie liest = she reads / she is reading
• sie lesen = they read / they are reading
• Sie lesen = you read / you are reading

Capitalization

When "Sie" means "you", the letter "S" will always be capitalized, no matter where it is in the sentence. However, at the begging of a sentence, "Sie" will always be capitalized no matter what is meant.

Examples:

• Ich weiß, dass sie liest = I know that she reads
• Ich weiß, dass sie lesen = I know that they read
• Ich weiß, dass Sie lesen = I know that you read

Context

In most situations, there will be context, you'll know what (or whom) the other person is talking about. On duolingo, we do not have the required context, so we need to look at the conjugation and capitalization. If you see a sentence such as

• "Sie lesen ein Buch"

Duolingo will accept both:

• You read a book / You are reading a book
• They read a book / They are reading a book

It will not accept:

• She reads a book / She is reading a book

because the conjugation is not correct for the "she-form" of "sie".

Why not? It’s a feminine noun.

Correct. Likewise, with neuter nouns, for instance, das Magazin.

Sie liest ein Magazin. (Akkusativ).

Ein Magazin. (Nominativ).

This is not mine but I remember someone commenting this. If the verb ends in 't' it's a she. That's how I remember it...

sie is 3rd person singular.

Sie is (equivalent to) 3rd person plural.

What you have written is past tense. 'she 'read' a newspaper' is actually grammatically incorrect. :)

It is 'eine Zeitung' So it would be 'a newpaper'. Hope that helps!

This is not mine but I remember someone commenting this. If the verb ends in 't' it's a she. That's how I remember it...

The conjugation of the predicate gives it away.

liest is third person singular.

lesen is third person plural.

The same.

No. Zeitung is feminine, Apfel masculine.

Die Zeitung.

Der Apfel.

Newspapers can be countable or uncountable depending on the context.

In the context of reading, it is countable: "I am reading a newspaper" or "I subscribe to three newspapers", because you are generally referring to specific editions/publications.

In the context of using old newspapers for some other purpose, such as a packing or cleaning material, you can use it as an uncountable/bulk noun: "I wrapped the plates in newspaper before packing them into the box" or "Using scrunched-up newspaper is a common way of cleaning windows without leaving streaks".

Because sie liest means "she reads". What else do you think it could mean?

Because Zeitung is feminine and Apfel is masculine and the declensions in accusative singular of their indefinite articles are eine and einen, respectively.

Ich sehe eine Zeitung.

Ich sehe einen Apfel.

I don't understand your question. Please be more specific.

Conjugations are applied to verbs. "Ihr" is a personal pronoun.

Yes, you can. College tuition is free, no matter whether you're a citizen or not. You may have to learn German though.

Yes. There has to be an article (a, an, the) or a determiner (this, that, my, his, another...) before a singular noun in English. Singular nouns can’t be used alone.

Of course it can. That’s also correct.

Check the link bellow and good luck https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Accusative-Case/tips-and-notes

Because the masculine articles ein/der change to einen/den in the accusative. Neuter and feminine articles don’t change.

The difference is in the nouns’ gender, whether masculine, feminine, or neuter. https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Accusative-Case/tips-and-notes

Because die Zeitung is a feminine noun: eine Zeitung.

You have to consider the context. Is the action going on right now, in the moment? (She is reading the newspaper now). Or is it something that happens regularly, habitually, or always? (She reads the newspaper every morning).

If you have no context, as in this sentence, then either translation is possible.

Sure. See just above— I explained it more. :-)

The article einen is used for masculine nouns in the accusative case. Zeitung is a feminine noun, so it keeps the article eine, like in the nominative case.

For most nouns, you can’t. You just have to memorize the definite article—and thus, the noun’s gender—along with the meaning. Der Tisch (the table, masc.); das Zimmer (the room, neut.); die Wand (the wall, fem.).

Some noun endings are always feminine, or always neuter, but generally you can’t tell by looking.

"She reads" & "She is reading" both mean present tense and I've answered lots of questions like this either way. Both have been correct accordiing to the lesson.

That's right. Only context can tell.

Also, you can't use the fact that the formal address (Sie) is always capitalized to your advantage, because the pronoun appears at the beginning of the sentence at which words are always capitalized anyway.

If, however, you were looking at the sentence/question in its two possible variants, as follows:

Lesen Sie eine Zeitung?

Lesen sie eine Zeitung?

you would be able to tell the difference.

The former asking do you read a newspaper? and the latter do they read a newspaper?.

Repeat posting from above: No, there isn’t. German has no present continuous/ present progressive. The context determines the meaning, whether one is talking about a habitual action or an ongoing present action.

Yes.

Every section has grammar notes. https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Accusative-Case/tips.

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Accusative-Case/tips

Well, words that end in -ung are feminine, and words ending in -heit, -keit, -lein, -chen are neuter. Otherwise, you can’t. Essentially you have to memorize the noun’s gender along with its meaning—for the most part, you can’t tell by looking.

You have to become familiar with conjugations. The verb form, the conjugation, is the only way; you can’t tell just by looking at the pronoun. Sie liest is singular; Sie lesen is plural.

That’s why learning the conjugations is essential. I strongly recommend a book called 501 German Verbs.

First, read this: https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Accusative-Case/tips.

Second, read the comments thread here on this forum. It’s been discussed very thoroughly several times. You should be able to find what you need here. The moderators are great.

"They" is 3rd person, plural. The matching conjugation of "lesen" would be "lesen": "Sie lesen eine Zeitung."

Compare this with the complete list of conjugations of the verb "lesen" in present tense that you can find a few posts up on this page.

Ein Apfel is a masculine noun. Eine Zeitung is feminine.

Ditto.

I had the same issue with Wasser und Brot

Yes, that’s correct too.

You are hearing the German z sound, which is /ts/. The ‘t’ you are hearing is part of the pronunciation of Z auf deutsch.

See my answer to stella399014 above.

M

the ≠ a

die ≠ eine

The answer is a couple of posts down:

They is 3rd person plural. That conjugates as lesen. So, the sentence would read:

Sie lesen eine Zeitung.

You're not serious, are you?

RTFM.

There are tens of questions exactly like yours in this thread where you'll find the answer to your question.

The answer is already on this page.

Übung macht den Meister. (= Practice makes perfect.)

That would be "Sie lesen eine Zeitung."

See above.

When the noun is masculine. Read my reply a few posts up. I am providing an example with a masculine noun.

This has been answered at great length above. Please read through this thread.

Die Zeitung (feminine) Accusative - Eine (Ein is nominative)

Simply no way to tell

Not Sure I Do Know though that it does mean newspaper though. O_o

Because its an article, not an adjective. a newspaper opposed to one newspaper.

Zai-Toong

Wrong. You at least spelled two words wrong.

I don't fully understand your question, but I think you will find an explanation in the comments.

What about it? I suspect you will find your answer in one of the previous comments.

eine is singular. Either one or A. a newspaper.

It threw me off too

No, it should be "a newspaper". Nowhere in the sentence does it have the definite article "the".

Zeitung is feminine. Die Zeitung, eine Zeitung.