Articles in the accusative (den, einen, keinen)

You've already met the accusative case and seen that it marks the direct object by changing der → den and ein → einen. This article puts the whole picture together: the definite article (der/die/das, plural die), the indefinite article (ein/eine/ein), and the negative article kein all follow the exact same pattern in the accusative, so once you know one, you already half-know the other two. (These same forms also appear after certain prepositions, like für or ohne — this lesson focuses on direct objects, the most common case you'll meet them in.)

Quick shortcut: only the masculine singular article changes in the accusative — der → den, ein → einen, kein → keinen. Everything else (feminine, neuter, plural) looks identical to the nominative.

The three article systems, side by side

Each article type answers a different question — which one (definite), a non-specific one (indefinite), or none at all (negative) — but they all decline the same way from nominative to accusative:

• Der Hund schläft. → Ich sehe den Hund. (definite)
• Ein Hund bellt. → Ich sehe einen Hund. (indefinite)
• Hier ist kein Hund. → Ich sehe keinen Hund. (negative)

The plural row has no indefinite entry, because as you saw in the indefinite article lesson, ein/eine/ein simply doesn't exist in the plural — a plain plural noun takes no article at all, in either case.

Definite: der → den

The definite article changes only for masculine singular, exactly as in the accusative case lesson:

• Ich lese den Roman. — I'm reading the novel. (masc., changes)
• Ich lese die Zeitung. — I'm reading the newspaper. (fem., unchanged)
• Ich lese das Buch. — I'm reading the book. (neut., unchanged)
• Ich lese die Bücher. — I'm reading the books. (plural, unchanged)

Indefinite: ein → einen

The indefinite article behaves the same way — only masculine ein becomes einen; feminine eine and neuter ein stay exactly as they are:

• Ich kaufe einen Apfel. — I'm buying an apple. (masc., changes)
• Ich kaufe eine Banane. — I'm buying a banana. (fem., unchanged)
• Ich kaufe ein Brot. — I'm buying a loaf of bread. (neut., unchanged)

Since there's no plural ein, there's no plural form to change either — Ich kaufe Äpfel (I'm buying apples) simply has no article, in the nominative or the accusative.

Negative: kein → keinen

Kein, covered in negation with nicht and kein, follows the same endings as ein — in German grammar, it behaves like an ein-word — so masculine kein becomes keinen in the accusative, while feminine, neuter, and plural keine don't change:

• Ich habe keinen Bruder. — I don't have a brother. (masc., changes)
• Ich habe keine Schwester. — I don't have a sister. (fem., unchanged)
• Ich habe kein Auto. — I don't have a car. (neut., unchanged)
• Ich habe keine Bücher. — I don't have any books. (plural, unchanged)

Why this is easier than it looks

Because all three systems share the same rule, you really only need to remember one pattern for masculine singular — ein and kein add -en, and der switches to its special form den — and apply it three times:

Notice the shape: ein and kein both just add -en to become einen/keinen, while der uses the special form den. Once that one masculine-singular change is automatic, every other gender and the plural take care of themselves — they simply don't change.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Ich sehe ein Hund. → ✅ Ich sehe einen Hund. (masculine ein must become einen for a direct object)
• ❌ Ich habe kein Bruder. → ✅ Ich habe keinen Bruder. (the same rule applies to kein as to ein — masculine adds -en)
• ❌ Ich sehe einen Buch. → ✅ Ich sehe ein Buch. (neuter Buch keeps ein in the accusative — never takes -en)
• ❌ Declining a feminine or plural article, e.g. die → "dien" → ✅ die stays die — feminine and plural articles never change between nominative and accusative

Quick check

Try the correct accusative article in each sentence:

1. Ich sehe ___ Mann. (definite, masculine)
2. Ich kaufe ___ Zeitung. (indefinite, feminine)
3. Ich habe ___ Zeit. (negative — no time at all, feminine)
4. Ich trinke ___ Kaffee. (indefinite, masculine)

Key takeaways

• Three article systems — definite (der/die/das), indefinite (ein/eine/ein), and negative (kein/keine/kein) — all follow the same rule in the accusative: only the masculine singular form changes.
• Der → den, ein → einen, kein → keinen — masculine singular adds an -en ending (or, for der, switches to the special form den).
• Feminine, neuter, and plural articles are identical in the nominative and accusative across all three systems — there's nothing new to learn for them here.
• Kein declines exactly like ein, since it's built from ein with k- added — if you know one, you know the other.