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Indefinite Articles

Spoken Description

Lerne die Verwendung unbestimmter Artikel im Deutschen: wann und wie 'ein', 'eine' sowie der Gebrauch von Ausnahmen und Fällen. Übungen und Tipps helfen dir, unbestimmte Artikel richtig zu verwenden.

Learn how to use indefinite articles in German: when and how to use 'ein', 'eine' and the cases and exceptions. Practice exercises and simple tips will help you use indefinite articles confidently.

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Indefinite articles introduce nouns without specifying which one, much like English "a", "an" and "some". This guide uses short examples to show the key forms and patterns.

Overview

The German indefinite article appears only in singular and matches the noun's gender and case. There is no plural indefinite article; instead, you use einige, ein paar or nothing.

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Forms

Here are the basic forms of the indefinite article in the three main cases for each gender.
CaseMasculineFeminineNeuter
Nominativeeineineein
Accusativeeineneineein
Dativeeinemeinereinem

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Gender

The indefinite article changes to match the noun's gender: ein for masculine and neuter, eine for feminine in the nominative. Learning nouns with their gender helps you pick the right article.
(a) Mann steht dort.

A man is standing there.

Masculine singular (nominative): ___ (a) Mann steht dort.

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Case

Case determines the article's form based on the noun's role: nominative for subjects, accusative for direct objects, and dative for indirect objects. The article changes accordingly, especially for masculine nouns.
Ich gebe(a) Mann das Buch.

I give the man the book.

Masculine singular (dative): Ich gebe ___ (a) Mann das Buch.

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Plural

Es gibt keine plurale Form des unbestimmten Artikels. Um eine unbestimmte Menge im Plural auszudrücken, verwendet man Wörter wie einige (einige), ein paar (ein paar) oder lässt den Artikel weg. Plurale Substantive erscheinen in ihrer Grundform ohne ein.

There is no plural form of the indefinite article. To express an unspecified quantity in plural, use words like einige (some), ein paar (a few) or leave out the article. Plural nouns appear in their natural form with no ein.

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Summary

The indefinite article marks gender and case in singular: ein/eine/einen/einem etc. There is no plural ein*. Learn a few extra words for some/any in plural. Practice with simple sentences to fix the patterns.

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