een

Een is the Dutch indefinite article meaning “a” or “an,” used before a singular, non-specific noun. It can also appear as the numeral one in contexts where the number is being emphasized or distinguished from other numbers, in which case it is often written with an acute accent as één.

As an indefinite article, een accompanies singular nouns of any gender: een auto, een boek, een kind. Dutch has no plural indefinite article; to express “some,” one uses phrases such as enkele or een paar. When the numeral one is stressed, the form with the accent, één, is used, for example: Één appel ligt op tafel (One apple lies on the table).

Etymology and spelling: een derives from the same root as the English one and the German ein, tracing back to Proto-Germanic *ainaz. In modern Dutch, the standard spelling is een; the accent in hét numeral sense helps prevent ambiguity between the article and the number, though in many contexts the accent may be omitted in informal writing.

Usage notes: In sentence structure, een functions as a determiner before a noun, similar to other indefinite articles in Germanic languages. It does not indicate definiteness and cannot mark gender beyond the noun’s inherent gender. In formal writing, gebruik (use) sometimes favors the accented tête-tête éé (één) to distinguish the numeral sense, especially when clarity is needed in lists or emphasis.

See also: Dutch articles, definite articles de and het, numerals in Dutch, pronunciation and diacritics in Dutch orthography.