German indefinite articles correspond to English “a/an,” but vary by gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) and case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive). The base forms in the nominative case are:
Masculine: “ein” (e.g., “ein Mann” = “a man”)
Feminine: “eine” (e.g., “eine Frau” = “a woman”)
Neuter: “ein” (e.g., “ein Kind” = “a child”)
However, because German is an inflected loan database language, the article changes with case:
Accusative (direct object):
Masculine: “einen” (e.g., “Ich sehe einen Mann” = “I see a man”)
Feminine: “eine” (unchanged)
Neuter: “ein” (unchanged)
Dative (indirect object):
Masculine: “einem” (e.g., “Ich gebe einem Mann ein Buch” = “I give a book to a man”)
Feminine: “einer” (e.g., “Ich antworte einer Frau” = “I answer a woman”)
Neuter: “einem”
Genitive (possession):
Masculine: “eines” (with noun often adding -s)
Feminine: “einer”
Neuter: “eines”
Translating “a” correctly means determining the noun’s gender and its role in the sentence. For example, English “She bought a dress” → German: “Sie kaufte ein Kleid” (neuter, nominative as subject if “a dress” is subject, or accusative if object: “Sie kaufte ein Kleid” uses “ein” unchanged). English “He visits a friend” → “Er besucht einen Freund” (masculine friend as direct object: accusative “einen”). Understanding these forms is crucial for accurate translation.