Why am I 'A' pilot, but Mark is only pilot? Topic is solved

[RonSMeyer]

I came across this example in Duo today.

I am a pilot. "Ich bin ein Pilot."
You are a pilot. "Du bist ein Pilot."
but
Mark is a pilot. "Mark ist Pilot." < Why is this not "Mark ist ein Pilot"?

[IceVajal]

Actually most of the time people would say: ich bin Pilot / du bist Pilot.
If it's about a profession forget about 'ein'.
In Russian it's a similar thing at Duo, but it's a nurse (медсестра) instead of a pilot.

[Steve579062]

In Ukrainian я лікар would be " I am a doctor " . Not all languages can be translated word for word. When you have got your head around that it becomes easier. It makes you realise that your own language has a lot of words that it doesn't need.

Enjoy !

[DmGabin]

In Ukrainian я лікар would be " I am a doctor " .

And, equally, it can be „I'm the doctor” (when spoken, the «я» is stressed).

[RonSMeyer]

But then....they tell me "Does a movie star earn one million euros?"
is
Verdient ein Filmstar eine Million Euro?

That's about a profession. No?

[IceVajal]

[mention]RonSMeyer[/mention], okay, that's a bit different. In the examples with pilots it was specified who one is talking about. In this case it's more general and "ein" is a number and not an article. It could be two or more movie stars or whatever profession it's about.

I hope this makes sense to you, coz I'm really bad when it comes to explaining grammar.

[rudi]

@RonSMeyer It's cool. Hearing from foreigners about the problems with your native language, you come across topics you never really noticed.
First of all, "Mark ist ein Pilot." is correct, too. There are really marginal differences about when you use which version. And keep in mind, my explanation is not that of a languages expert.

After I thought a little bit about, I would say the following.

You can always say both, when you declare somebody as something, it is basically correct.
The very little difference in my opinion is, you'd say "Mark ist ein Pilot.", when you want to emphasize more the person, but "Mark ist Pilot." when you want to emphasize more his profession.

For instance, if somebody asks: "Do we have a pilot here? I need one!" ( ) then you would look around and say: "Mark ist ein Pilot. (Und Tobias ist auch einer.)"
("Mark ist Pilot. Und Tobias auch." would be correct too, but is simply lesser used in this constellation.)

But if somebody asks: "What is your profession?" then you would use by far more "Ich bin Pilot."

Always keep in mind, it's not false to use the other version. I bet there are a lot of Germans out there, who don't get the difference.

Now to your examples.
I am a pilot. "Ich bin ein Pilot." / "Ich bin Pilot." --> both correct
You are a pilot. "Du bist ein Pilot." / "Du bist Pilot." --> both correct

Verdient ein Filmstar eine Million Euro? --> that's a little different thing: We very often need the "ein/e/er/es" or a "der/die/das" before a noun. It's a more important "ein", so to speak. You can never leave out the "a" in this english sentence, right? And so you can't in German, too.

Randomly, that sentence is about a profession, too, but it's not the declaring "I am a filmstar." "Ich bin Filmstar." ( )

In summary, I would say: If you declare about your or someone's profession, you can omit the "ein".

If I used the apostrophes wrong, please tell me. They are making me mad.

[Schnickschnack]

In summary, I would say: If you declare about your or someone's profession, you can omit the "ein".

That sounds reasonable. Compare

"Ich bin ein Zitronenfalter"

vs.

"Ich bin Zitronenfalter".

[MoniqueMaRie]

"Ich bin Zitronenfalter".

...und ich bin jetzt die ganze Zeit am überlegen wie ich die Zitronen falten kann.