Er kauft eine Zigarette.

He is buying a cigarette.

Breakdown of Er kauft eine Zigarette.

• er: he
• kaufen: to buy
• die Zigarette: the cigarette

Questions & Answers about Er kauft eine Zigarette.

What form of kaufen is kauft?

Kauft is the 3rd person singular present tense form of kaufen.

The present-tense pattern is:

• ich kaufe = I buy
• du kaufst = you buy
• er/sie/es kauft = he/she/it buys

So Er kauft matches he buys.

Why is eine used instead of ein?

Because Zigarette is a feminine noun.

The indefinite article a / an changes in German depending on gender:

• ein for masculine and neuter
• eine for feminine

So:

• ein Tisch = a table
• ein Auto = a car
• eine Zigarette = a cigarette

What case is eine Zigarette in?

It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of kauft.

He is buying what?
Eine Zigarette

That makes it the thing directly affected by the verb.

In this sentence, the feminine indefinite article in nominative and accusative is the same:

• nominative: eine
• accusative: eine

So you do not see a change here, but the case is still accusative.

How do I know that Zigarette is feminine?