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Indefinite Articles - Summary

Here is a survey of the indefinite articles declined in the four cases. The article always stands in front of the noun and helps to recognize the case of the noun which it accompanies as the noun itself does not necessarily reveal it. It is the best if you learn the declined forms of the indefinite article by heart. The good thing is that there are no plural forms.

Number:		Singular			Plural
Gender:		masculine	feminine	neuter
Case:	Nominative	ein Mann m sg	eine Frau f sg	ein Kind nt sg	Männer m pl

	Genitive	eines Mannes m sg	einer Frau f sg	eines Kindes nt sg	Männer m pl

	Dative	einem Mann m sg	einer Frau f sg	einem Kind nt sg	Männern m pl

	Accusative	einen Mann m sg	eine Frau f sg	ein Kind nt sg	Männer m pl

Examples of the different cases

The nominative is the first case. We use the nominative form of the indefinite article if it accompanies a noun which represents the subject of the sentence. The subject is the acting part of the sentence which the predicate (the conjugated form of the verb) refers to.

Nominative (Subject):	German	Phonetic Script	English
Question: Who is doing sth?	Ein Kind nt weint.	[ain kɪnt vaint]	A child is crying.

The genitive is the second of the German cases. We use the genitive form of the indefinite article if it accompanies a noun which represents the genitive object of a sentence.

There are some verbs which are followed by the genitive. Then we have a genitive object.

Genitive (Object):	German	Phonetic Script	English
Question: What is required?	Es bedarf einer Erlaubnis f.	[ɛs bə'darf 'ainɐ ɛɐ'laupnɪs]	A permission is required.
Example Verb	einer Sache gen bedürfen	['ainɐ 'zaxə bə'dʏrfən]	to require/need something

The genitive attribute is a construction of two nouns of which one noun stands in the genitive case. This noun mostly indicates the owner. Here is one example:

Genitive (Attribute):	German	Phonetic Script	English
Question: Whose work is important?	Die Arbeit f eines Arztes m ist wichtig.	[di: 'arbait 'ainəs 'a:ɐtstəs ɪst 'vɪçtɪç]	The work of a doctor is important.

Remember that there is no plural form of the indefinite article. Nouns accompanied by an indefinite article can only be declined in the genitive plural if they are additionally accompanied by an adjective. Otherwise you have to use the preposition von + dative.

Here is one example of the declension in the genitive plural:

German	Phonetic Script	English
die Wünsche schöner Frauen f pl	[di: 'vʏnʃə 'ʃø:nɐ 'frauən]	the wishes of beautiful women

One example with the preposition von + dative:

German	Phonetic Script	English
die Wünsche von Frauen f pl	[di: 'vʏnʃə fɔn 'frauən]	the wishes of women

The dative is the third case. We use the dative form of the indefinite article if it accompanies a noun which represents the indirect object of a sentence. In German it is called dative object. Very often a person receives something. Some German verbs and prepositions are followed by the dative case.

Dative (Object):	German	Phonetic Script	English
Question: To who(m) does she write?	Sie schreibt einem Freund m.	[zi: ʃraipt 'ainəm frɔynt]	She is writing to a friend.
Example Verb	jemandem (jdm) schreiben	['je:mandəm 'ʃraibən]	to write to somebody
The dative object corresponds to the indirect object.

The accusative is the fourth of the German cases. We use the accusative form of the indefinite article if it accompanies a noun which represents the direct object of a sentence. In German we call it accusative object. Most of the German verbs and prepositions are followed by the accusative case.

Accusative (Object):	German	Phonetic Script	English
Question: Who(m) do I see?	Ich sehe eine Katze f auf dem Dach.	[ɪç ˈze:ə 'ainə 'katsə auf de:m dax]	I see a cat on the roof.
Example Verb	jemanden (jdn) sehen	['je:mandən ˈze:ən]	to see someone
The accusative object corresponds to the direct object.

If you have already been learning German somewhere else - at school or university or elsewhere - and if you are insecure which case is used with the verb you want to use, then look it up in a dictionary:

Object Form	Dictionary	Meaning	Phonetic Script	English
Genitive:	einer S. gen bedürfen	einer Sache gen bedürfen	['ainɐ 'zaxə bə'dʏrfən]	to require/need something
Dative:	jdm schreiben	jemandem schreiben	['je:mandəm 'ʃraibən]	to write to somebody
Accusative:	jdn sehen	jemanden sehen	['je:mandən ˈze:ən]	to see somebody

Have a look if the verb stands with jds/einer S. (genitive), jdm (dative) or jdn/etwas (accusative).