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The Indefinite Article

What is an indefinite article?

The indefinite article in English is the word a which changes into an if the following word starts with a vowel. In the plural we say either some, any or nothing at all.

For example:
I'd like a beer.
We'd like an orange juice.
Here are some napkins.

The indefinite article in German is ein. However ein can change to eine depending on whether the noun it's used with is masculine, feminine or neuter. There is no plural form of the indefinite article in the German language. Here is a table that shows which version you use for which gender:

Table: Indefinite article

	Masculine Nouns	Feminine Nouns	Neuter Nouns
Singular	ein	eine	ein
Plural	-	-	-

• The article ein is used with masculine and neuter nouns:

der Kellner ⇨ ein Kellner – a waiter
das Eis ⇨ ein Eis – an ice cream

• The article eine is used with feminine nouns:
  
  die Tasse ⇨ eine Tasse – a cup.

Tip
The indefinite article in German is used very much as it is in English which keeps things simple.

A Few Exceptions

In certain situations you do not use the indefinite article:

• When talking about someone's religion:
  Er ist Jude. ⇨ He's a Jew.


• When talking about someone's nationality:
  Sie ist Italienerin. ⇨ She's (an) Italian.


• When talking about the job someone does:
  Sie ist Lehrerin. ⇨ She's a teacher.


• When talking about someone's political view:
  Er ist Sozialist. ⇨ He's a socialist.

Note: The indefinite article is used in all four examples above when an adjective comes before the noun.

For example:
Er ist ein gläubiger Jude. ⇨ He's a faithful Jew.
Sie ist eine hübsche Italienerin. ⇨ She's a pretty Italian.
Sie ist eine nette Lehrerin. ⇨ She's a nice teacher.
Er ist ein junger Sozialist. ⇨ He's a young socialist.

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Indefinite Article in a Negative Statement

A negative sentence uses a word such as not, nothing or never to express that something is not happening or isn't true. The word not is often combined with other English verbs, for example, doesn't, won't or can't.

For example:
I'm not happy.
He can't help me.
She's never at home.

Negative sentences in German are formed with the following words:

German	English
nicht / kein	not
nicht mehr / keine mehr	not...anymore
nie	never
nichts	nothing, anything
niemand	nobody, anybody

One of the first confusions you will encounter when learning the German language is:

What's the difference between kein and nicht and when should you use them?

The problem arises because in English we just have one word that covers both: not. Which one you use depends on what you negate in a sentence. Let's go through them in more detail.

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When to use "nicht"?

Okay, the quick answer is that nicht is used in any situation except in direct relation to a noun, then you use a form of kein. Therefore nicht is used with verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

The word nicht is pretty straightforward as its form never changes. To use it in a sentence, you need to understand the word order. It usually comes straight after an affected verb or direct object but often comes before the affected adjective.

For example:
Ich wohne nicht in Italien. ⇨ I don't live in Italy.
Ich kann das Bier nicht trinken. ⇨ I can't drink the beer.
Das Essen schmeckt nicht sehr gut. ⇨ The food doesn't taste very good.

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When to use "kein"?

In German, you use a separate negative form of the indefinite article, which is formed exactly like ein in the singular. The difference is, that the negative form also has plural forms. Let's have a look at a table:

Table: Indefinite article in a negative statement

	Masculine Nouns	Feminine Nouns	Neuter Nouns	Plural Nouns (all genders)
Indefinite Article in a negative statement	kein	keine	kein	keine

When you want to use not or no in relation to a noun you should use a form of kein. Simply kein is used in situations where nicht ein (not a) would otherwise occur.

For example:
Ich habe kein Geld. ⇨ I have no money.

Tip
When you first use these it will be confusing. But don't worry - you will pick it up quite quickly and it will soon become instinctive.