Word
Das ist das Ergebnis einer Erfindung.
Meaning
That is the result of an invention.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Das ist das Ergebnis einer Erfindung.
sein
to be
ein
a, an (eine)
das Ergebnis
the result
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
Questions & Answers about Das ist das Ergebnis einer Erfindung.
Why is it einer Erfindung and not eine Erfindung?
This is the genitive case, which is often used to mean "of a" or to show possession. Because Erfindung is a feminine noun, its indefinite article eine changes to einer in the genitive case.
I thought genitive nouns get an -s at the end. Why isn't it Erfindungs?
That rule only applies to masculine and neuter nouns! Feminine nouns do not get an extra -s or -es at the end in the genitive case. Since Erfindung is feminine, only the article changes.
How can I tell that Erfindung is a feminine noun?
The ending -ung is a very reliable clue. In German, almost every noun ending in -ung is feminine. This makes it easy to remember its gender.
Could I say von einer Erfindung instead to mean the same thing?
Yes, you can. In everyday spoken German, people frequently replace the genitive with von plus the dative case (von einer Erfindung). However, using the genitive as shown in this sentence is very common in writing and sounds slightly more professional.