# ein

**Part of speech:** DET  
**Frequency rank:** #5 most common German word  
**Language:** German

The indefinite article "a/an" (and the number "one"). Like der, it changes for gender and case — ein/eine/einen/einem/einer/eines. Its endings are the master pattern for a whole family of "ein-words": kein, mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser.

## Meanings

- **a / an (indefinite article)** — Introduces a non-specific, new noun. There is no plural — plurals just drop the article (Ich sehe Hunde = I see dogs).
- **one (number)** — Stressed, ein means the number "one" (often written eins when counting).

## Forms

ein, eine, einen, einem, einer, eines

## Nearby words by frequency

- [der](https://mostspoken.com/words/de/der)
- [sein](https://mostspoken.com/words/de/sein)
- [ich](https://mostspoken.com/words/de/ich)
- [sie](https://mostspoken.com/words/de/sie)
- [nicht](https://mostspoken.com/words/de/nicht)
- [haben](https://mostspoken.com/words/de/haben)
- [du](https://mostspoken.com/words/de/du)
- [und](https://mostspoken.com/words/de/und)
- [es](https://mostspoken.com/words/de/es)
- [zu](https://mostspoken.com/words/de/zu)

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Source: [https://mostspoken.com/words/de/ein](https://mostspoken.com/words/de/ein) — MostSpoken German frequency dictionary.