das Hühnerei
chicken egg
The egg of a chicken, used as food or for reproduction.
EXAMPLE
Zum Frühstück habe ich ein Hühnerei gekocht.
I boiled a chicken egg for breakfast.
das Hühnerei
chicken egg
das Hühnerei, die Hühnereier
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Meanings
Forms
Forms adapted from the German Wiktionary entry Hühnerei, by Wiktionary contributors, licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
At a glance
| gender | neuter das |
|---|---|
| plural | die Hühnereier |
| genitive | des Hühnereis |
The four cases
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | das Hühnerei | die Hühnereier |
| accusative | das Hühnerei | die Hühnereier |
| dative | dem Hühnerei | den Hühnereiern |
| genitive | des Hühnereis des Hühnereies | der Hühnereier |
The article changes with the case; it is shown in colour.
Usage tips
Compound words
'Hühnerei' (chicken egg) is made up of 'Huhn' (chicken) and 'Ei' (egg). The first component indicates which animal the egg comes from.
EXAMPLE
Für den Kuchen brauche ich zwei Hühnereier.
I need two chicken eggs for the cake.
Typical collocations
'Hühnerei' (chicken egg) is often used with verbs related to cooking or farming, such as 'aufschlagen' (to crack), 'kochen' (to boil), 'braten' (to fry), and 'ausbrüten' (to incubate).
EXAMPLE
Sie schlug ein Hühnerei vorsichtig in eine Schüssel auf.
She carefully cracked a chicken egg into a bowl.
Two uses
In the context of cooking and food, 'Hühnerei' (chicken egg) refers to a product used for eating; in the context of animals or farming, it may refer to an egg intended for reproduction.
EXAMPLE
Das Hühnerei wird für die Pfannkuchen verwendet.
The chicken egg is being used for the pancakes.
Unter dem Huhn lag ein Hühnerei, aus dem bald ein Küken schlüpfen könnte.
There was a chicken egg under the hen, from which a chick might soon hatch.
In real life
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