German Indefinite Articles ein eine

In German, there are two main indefinite articles: ein and eine.

These articles function similarly to the English indefinite article a.

What are indefinite articles?

Indefinite articles are words used to refer to something that is not specifically identified or known.

In German, there are two indefinite articles in the nominative case: ein and eine.

These articles are used exclusively in the singular form when referring to something unknown, new, or unspecified.

Furthermore, indefinite articles can change according to the four grammatical cases (nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative).

How to use the German indefinite articles

Tip: If the article of the singular noun is die, you use eine.
Otherwise, you use ‘ein‘.

For example: die Frau = eine Frau.
But: das Mädchen = ein Mädchen.

Maybe you wonder why we don’t use the article die when we talk about the word Mädchen (girl). After all, it is a female person, right?

Well, I know it seems strange, but here we have an exception due to the ending -chen. Nouns that end in -chen are always neuter and therefore take the article “das.”

So the word Mädchen has the article das, and we must use ein Mädchen, not eine Mädchen.

No indefinite article with plural nouns

If we have a plural noun, we don’t use the indefinite article in German at all:

Ein Mann mag Bier.
A man likes beer.
(Mann = singular noun)

However:
Männer mögen Bier.
Men like beer.
(Männer = plural noun)

🎓 Indefinite Article in German – Exercise A:

How to Learn with Part A of the Exercise

1. Start by looking at the picture.
2. Read the text and listen to the audio several times.
3. Repeat each phrase after the speaker.
4. Focus on accurately imitating the speaker’s pronunciation.
5. Once you’ve practiced a few times, move on to Part B (further down).

Tip: Always try to visualize the situations in your mind; it will help you remember the words better!

ein Mann
a man

Ein Mann liest.
A man is reading.

eine Frau
a woman

Eine Frau isst.
A woman is eating.

ein Junge
a boy

Ein Junge trinkt.
A boy is drinking.

ein Mädchen
a girl

Ein Mädchen schreibt.
A girl is writing.

🎓 Indefinite Article in German – Exercise B:

How to Practice with Part B of the Exercise

Question and Answer Section:

1. Start by reading and listening to the questions and answers several times.
2. Try to answer the questions during the pauses (feel free to refer to the answers if needed).
3. After a few repetitions, challenge yourself to answer without looking at the answers.
4. Focus on mimicking my pronunciation as closely as possible.
5. Keep repeating the exercise until you can easily answer all the questions.

Question and Answer Part

Question: 

Wer liest – ein Mann oder eine Frau?

Answer: 

Ein Mann
Ein Mann liest.

Wer isst – eine Frau oder ein Mann? 

Eine Frau
Eine Frau isst.

Wer trinkt – ein Mädchen oder ein Junge? 

Ein Junge
Ein Junge trinkt.

Und (and) wer schreibt – eine Frau oder ein Mädchen? 

Ein Mädchen
Ein Mädchen schreibt.

Finding the correct article based on noun endings

Do you remember Lesson 1?

In that lesson, I taught you how the endings of nouns can often help you determine the correct definite article.

That might come in handy now!

Knowing the correct definite article also helps you determine the correct indefinite article.

Remember: If the definite article of a singular noun is “die“, you use “eine“.
Otherwise, you use “ein“.

Here are a few examples as a reminder:

Nouns ending in:

…ion
→ die Situation
→ die → eine

…ling
→ der Zwilling
→ der → ein

…ist
→ der Optimist
→ der → ein

…ment
→ das Dokument
→ das → ein

I recommend revisiting the list of noun endings and their corresponding articles every now and then.

It will pay off in the end! 

I know that learning a second or third language can be very difficult at first but never give up! Even if it seems to be a very long way, it will pay off in the end.