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I always struggle with these types of sentences in German as I'm not sure how exactly the declension of the indefinite article is decided. For example, I would normally write a sentence like "one of the most beautiful places I've visited" as "einer der schönsten Orte, die ich besucht habe", but it's purely by guessing. Can someone direct me to an explanation on how to construct these when dealing with different gendered nouns in singular and plural?

Henry Firth
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Probably you perceive this as more complex than it is: eine/eines/einer is singular. Even if it is one of many, it stays singular.

So it is:

  • der Ort, also einer (your translation is correct)
  • das Auto, also eines der schnellsten Autos (oder einer der schnellsten Wagen)
  • das Unglück also eines der schlimmsten Unglücke (assuming Unglück has a plural at all, which is debatable)
  • die Waschmaschine, also eine der sparsamsten Waschmaschinen.

Note, that the principle is not special in respect to superlatives as in:

Ich nahm eines der Autos aus dem Fuhrpark.

guidot
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    Thanks! So basically I just need to remember these three possibilities (eine/eines/einer) and so long as I know the right gender of the noun I can't go wrong. – Henry Firth Oct 27 '20 at 16:18
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    Would you mind to complete your answer with an example of a feminine noun? – Björn Friedrich Oct 27 '20 at 16:42
  • Maybe Eine der größten Katastrophen der Geschichte... for "“One of the biggest disasters in history…”? I think schlimmst is more like "worst" and Unglück is more like "misfortune". It would be an example with a feminine noun if nothing else.. – RDBury Oct 27 '20 at 19:08