Mein Freund hat einen Gips am Bein.

the; (masculine or neuter, dative)

Breakdown of Mein Freund hat einen Gips am Bein.

• haben: to have
• der Freund: the friend
• mein: my; (masculine or neuter, nominative)

Questions & Answers about Mein Freund hat einen Gips am Bein.

Why is it einen Gips and not ein Gips?

Because Gips is masculine and used as a direct object here.

• The basic (nominative) form is ein Gips (masculine).
• After the verb haben, the thing you “have” is in the accusative case (direct object).

• Masculine ein changes to einen in the accusative:

• Nominative: ein Gips (A cast is …)
• Accusative: einen Gips (He has a cast.)

So hat einen Gips = “has a cast.”

What gender is Gips, and is that always the case?

Gips is masculine: der Gips.

• Singular: der Gips, einen Gips, dem Gips …
• Plural (rare in this meaning): die Gipse.

For a medical cast, Germans essentially always treat Gips as masculine. You don’t need to worry about alternative genders here; standard German uses der Gips.

What exactly does am in am Bein mean?