en / eng

Indefinite Article: En and Eng

Level 1

Say en Hond and e Kand for masculine and neuter nouns, and eng Fra for feminine nouns. Plural nouns have no word for a: Ech hu Kanner.

How It Works

1. The forms

  • Masculine: en Hond (a dog), en Apel (an apple), e Mann (a man), e Stull (a chair)
  • Neuter: en Ee (an egg), en Haus (a house), e Kand (a child), e Buch (a book)
  • Feminine: eng Fra (a woman), eng Kaz (a cat), eng Stad (a town)

The subject and the direct object use the same forms: E Mann kënnt. (A man is coming.) Ech gesinn e Mann. (I see a man.)

2. En or e?
The rule is the same as for den and de. Keep the n before a vowel and before d, h, n, t and z: en Auto, en Hond, en Zuch. Drop it before other consonants: e Vëlo, e Kaffi, e Buch.

3. No plural
Like English a, en and eng have no plural. Use the plural noun alone: Ech hunn e Kand becomes Ech hu Kanner (I have children).

4. A or one?
The number one before a masculine or neuter noun is een (ee by the n-rule): e Kaffi is a coffee, while ee Kaffi is one coffee. For feminine nouns, eng means both a and one. See numbers 1-12.

To say no or not a, use keen/keng. In the dative, en and eng become engem and enger (see dem/der/den (dative)).

Examples (6)

  1. Ech hunn en Hond.

    I have a dog.

    Hond is masculine, and the n stays before h.

  2. Mir hunn e Kand.

    We have a child.

    Kand is neuter, and en becomes e before k.

  3. Si huet eng Kaz.

    She has a cat.

    Kaz is feminine, so the article is eng.

  4. Do kënnt en Zuch.

    A train is coming.

    The n stays before z.

  5. E Mann an eng Fra sinn am Gaart.

    A man and a woman are in the garden.

    E for the masculine noun Mann, eng for the feminine noun Fra.

  6. Ech hu Kanner.

    I have children.

    There is no plural article. Hunn also drops its n before k.

Common Mistakes

  • Using eng with a masculine noun.

    Ech hunn eng Hond.
    Ech hunn en Hond.

    Hond is masculine. Eng is only for feminine nouns.

  • Dropping the n before a vowel.

    Hien huet e Auto.
    Hien huet en Auto.

    Auto starts with a vowel, so the n stays.

  • Using an article with a plural noun.

    Ech hunn eng Kanner.
    Ech hu Kanner.

    There is no plural of a. Use the plural noun on its own.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

en / engLevel 1Indefinite Article: En and Eng

Learn This First

Before Indefinite Article: En and Eng, learn The Masculine Article Den.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

en