0

"einem neugierigen Journalisten". I know that "einem" is incorrect and so ist "einen". But for the life of me, I cannot figure out what the correct dativ plural form of this should be! What am I not realizing?

1
  • Your assumption is wrong. »Ich gebe einem neugierigen Journalisten ein Interview« is absolutely correct and high-quality standard German. The bold marked part is dative singular. There is no plural in this sentence. Next time please post complete sentences, not just 3 words without any context. Commented Sep 30, 2017 at 11:44

1 Answer 1

11

Einem is singular, because it means one. German has no indefinite plural article.

Indefinite article:

Wem haben Sie das gesagt? – Einem neugierigen Journalisten. (Singular männlich)

Wem haben Sie das gesagt? – Neugierigen Journalisten. (Plural)

Definite article:

Wem haben Sie das gesagt? – Dem neugierigen Journalisten. (Singular männlich)

Wem haben Sie das gesagt? – Den neugierigen Journalisten. (Plural)

6
  • 3
    You could consider the pronoun "vielen" as an indefinite plural. It is often used as a replacement.
    – tofro
    Commented Sep 29, 2017 at 14:08
  • 1
    Einige works, too.
    – Janka
    Commented Sep 29, 2017 at 17:26
  • "Welche" as well
    – Beta
    Commented Sep 29, 2017 at 18:43
  • Not to forget "Mehreren" and "etlichen". Commented Sep 29, 2017 at 20:57
  • Indefinite is only the solution in the answer. All your other comments are suggesting specificity in characterizing the journalists. I won't go into details, as this is a comment, but bear in mind that those words are not a replacement for the missing plural indefinite article. To find out the meaning of those words, I suggest a new question ;)
    – thymaro
    Commented Sep 30, 2017 at 6:35

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.