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German grammar · A1

Ein and Eine: German Indefinite Articles Explained

Ein and eine are German's equivalent of a or an. They follow the same gender system as der, die and das, but with one fewer distinction — and one genuine gap where English has a form and German does not.

The three forms, and the one that catches people out

In the nominative, masculine and neuter nouns both take ein, and feminine nouns take eine. So ein Mann, eine Frau, ein Kind. That is simpler than the definite article, which distinguishes all three.

The form that catches people out is the accusative masculine: einen. Ich habe einen Bruder. The feminine and neuter do not change — Ich habe eine Schwester, Ich habe ein Auto — so once again the masculine is the only one you have to actively watch.

There is no plural ein

English says a book and, in the plural, simply books. German does the same: there is no plural form of ein. You just drop it. Ich habe ein Buch becomes Ich habe Bücher.

Learners often try to invent a plural, or reach for einige (some) because the sentence feels bare without an article. It is not bare; a plural noun with no article is completely normal German and is what an examiner expects.

Kein follows the same endings

Kein is the negative of ein — not a, no — and it takes exactly the same endings: kein Mann, keine Frau, kein Kind, keinen Bruder. Learn the ein endings and you have learned the kein endings for free.

Unlike ein, kein does have a plural: keine. Ich habe keine Geschwister — I have no siblings. This asymmetry is worth noticing, because it is the point where the two words stop behaving identically.

Examples

• Dort steht ein Mann.A man is standing there.
• Das ist eine Katze.That is a cat.

Mistakes to avoid

The errors here cluster around two points: forgetting the -en on the masculine accusative, and inventing a plural for ein where German simply uses no article at all.

• ✗ Ich habe ein Bruder.✓ Ich habe einen Bruder.
• ✗ Ich habe eine Bücher.✓ Ich habe Bücher.
• ✗ Ich helfe ein Mann.✓ Ich helfe einem Mann.

How this is tested in the exam

At A1 the indefinite article turns up constantly in Schreiben Teil 2, where you write a short message of around thirty words. Introducing yourself, your family or your job means saying ich habe einen… or ich bin ein… repeatedly, so an ending you are unsure of will appear several times in a very short text.

It also matters in Sprechen, where the self-introduction and the keyword cards push you towards exactly these structures.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between ein and einen?

Ein is the nominative masculine and neuter form; einen is the accusative masculine. Use einen when the masculine noun is the direct object of the verb: Ich habe einen Hund.

Is there a plural of ein in German?

No. German drops the indefinite article in the plural exactly as English does: ein Buch becomes Bücher. A plural noun with no article is correct and normal.

When do I use eine?

With feminine nouns in the nominative and the accusative: eine Frau, ich sehe eine Frau. The feminine form does not change between those two cases.

How is kein different from ein?

Kein takes the same endings as ein but means no or not a. The one real difference is that kein has a plural form, keine, while ein does not.