Lesson 11: ein, eine, ein, -
11.1 Der unbestimmte Artikel - the Indefinite Article
Let's use the following headline as an example of how an indefinite article works:| Italiener sind geteilter Meinung über eine vorgeschlagene Methode zum Energiesparen beim Pasta-Kochen. Italians are divided when it comes to a suggested method to save money for cooking pasta. |
If you have only read the headline, then you don't know what that particular suggested method is. It's only one suggestion, one possibility for cooking pasta, which will conserve energy in the cooking process.
This is why we use eine, because it's one method. And we don't know which one it is until we've read the article.
In this news article or in others, this indefinite article, der unbestimmte Artikel, tells you you're reading about one method, one ship, one person, but you don't know which one it is until you've read the article.
A