Internal
GERMAN CASES
a. Nominative case is used for sentence subjects. The subject is the person or thing that does the action. For
example, in the sentence, “the girl kicks the ball”, “the girl” is the subject.
b. Accusative case is for direct objects. The direct object is the person or thing that receives the action. So in “the
girl kicks the ball”, “the ball” is the direct object.
c. Dative case is for indirect objects. The indirect object is the person or thing who “gets” the direct object. So in
the sentence “The girl kicks the ball to the boy”, “the boy” is the indirect object.
d. Genitive case is used to express possession. In English, we show possession with an apostrophe + s “the girl's
ball”.
A. German Nominative
easiest case in German
answers question “Wer?” or “Who?”
refers to the subject of the sentence
Examples:
1. The teacher went to school, “The teacher” is the subject of the sentence, and therefore “The teacher” is
nominative. Therefore, it will take the nominative form in German, which is “Der Lehrer”.
2. Die (Eine) Frau lebt in Deutschland. (The (a) woman lives in Germany.)
In this example, Die Frau, or the woman, is the subject of the sentence.
3. Der (Ein) Mann arbeitet in der Bäckerei. (The (a) man works in the bakery.)
The man is the subject of this sentence and takes the nominative case.
4. Das (Ein) Kind geht in die Schule. (The (a) child goes to school.)
The subject, the child, takes the nominative case.
German Nominative Case
Definite Articles Indefinite Articles Personal Pronouns Adjectives
(m,f,n,pl) (masc., fem, neuter, plural)
Der, die, das, die Ein, Eine, Ein Ich, du, er, sie, Weißer, weiße, weißes, weiße
(the) (a, an) wir, ihr, sie. (all these forms mean white)
(I, you, he, she...)
Internal
B. German Accusative
apart from the masculine, the other 2 genders + the plural (feminine, neuter and plural) look just like the
Nominative
considers the direct object
Examples:
1. I see the teacher, “the teacher” is the direct object of the sentence, and therefore would take the accusative
form, and since “the teacher” is masculine, it will become in German “den Lehrer” and not “der Lehrer” as in
the nominative case. I see the teacher = Ich sehe den Lehrer.
2. Das Kind isst einen Apfel. (The child eats an apple).
In this sentence, einen Apfel is the direct object in the accusative case. Das Kind is the subject and takes the
nominative case.
3. Der Mann liebt die Frau. (The man loves the woman).
Here, die Frau is the direct object in the accusative case. Der Mann is the subject in the nominative case.
4. Die Frau liebt den Mann. (The woman loves the man).
Den Mann is the direct object in this sentence and takes the accusative case. Die Frau is the subject and
takes the nominative case.
German Accusative Case
Definite Articles Indefinite Articles Personal Pronouns Adjectives (masc., fem, neuter, plural)
(m,f,n,pl)
Den, die, das, die Einen, Eine, Ein mich, dich, ihn, sie, Weißen, weiße, weißes, weiße
(the) (a, an) uns, euch, sie (all these forms mean white)
(me, you, him, her...)
Let’s get adjectives involved as well. I see the young teacher = ich sehe den jungen Lehrer. Young in German is jung, but
since we’re using the accusative case, then the adjective should copy the article it follows, which is “den/ the” =
masculine, so “den jungen”. If you look at the table above you will understand why we added “ en” after the adjective
“jung”. Now let’s get personal pronouns involved. I see him = ich sehe ihn.
There are also a few prepositions that always take the accusative case:
durch (through)
bis (until)
für (for)
ohne (without)
entlang (along)
gegen (against)
um (around)
Internal
C. German Dative
very important in German
also changes in all the 3 genders + the plural (masculine, feminine, neuter and plural).
like the indirect object in English, or in other words, it’s like the receiver of the direct object.
Examples:
1. I give the book to him, “I” is the subject of the sentence, “the book” is the direct object, and “him” is the
receiver, therefore also called the indirect object, in which we are interested when it comes to the dative
case.
2. Ich (subject) schenke dir (dative indirect object) eine Blume (accusative direct object).
3. Eine Blume (accusative direct object) schenke ich (subject) dir (dative indirect object).
4. I'm (subject) giving you (indirect object) a flower (direct object).
German Dative Case
Definite Articles Indefinite Articles Personal Pronouns Adjectives (masc., fem, neuter)
(m,f,n,pl)
Dem, der, dem, den Einem, Einer, Einem mir, dir, ihm, ihr, Weißen, weißen, weißen, weißen
(to the) (to a, to an) uns, euch, ihnen (all these forms mean to white)
(to me, to you, to him, to
her...)
Usually the equivalent of the dative case in English would include “to”, like our example above, I give the book to him, I
send it to him, I show it to him… but in German that “to” is usually included in the expression used, for example “to him =
ihm” “to the = dem” …so it’s not that complicated after all.
Several prepositions take the dative case:
aus (out)
auβer (besides)
bei (next to)
mit (with)
nach (after)
seit (since)
von (from)
zu (to)
gegenüber (opposite)
And some German verbs always take the dative case. These verbs are:
antworten (to answer)
danken (to thank)
glauben (to believe)
helfen (to help)
gehören (belong to)
gefallen (to like)
Internal
D. German Genitive
not used as often as the other cases, but still has its own importance
it means possession, or in other words it means the expression “of…” or “’s”.
Example:
1. The book of my teacher = das Buch meines Lehrers.
2. Das Haus meines Vaters (My father's house). The genitive case is common in written German.
3. Das Haus von meinem Vater (My father's house). The dative case often replaces the genitive case in spoken
German.
German Genitive Case
Definite Articles Indefinite Articles Personal Pronouns Adjectives (masc., fem, neuter)
(m,f,n,pl)
Des, der, des, der Eines, Einer, Eines mir, dir, ihm, ihr, Weißen, weißen, weißen, weiße
(of the) (of a, of an) uns, euch, ihnen (all these forms mean white)
(to me, to you, to him, to
her...)
Note that nouns in the masculine and neuter take an “s” at the end
Example: The book of my teacher = das Buch meines Lehrers.
*Feminine and plural nouns do not take any “s” at the end
The masculine and neuter forms require either an -s or -es ending. Single syllable words take an -es ending, while words
with multiple syllables take an -s ending. Here are a few examples.
1. Der Koffer des Mannes (The man's suitcase)
2. Die Spielzeuge des Kindes (The child's toys)
3. Das Buch meines Bruders (My brother's book)
4. Das Auto meiner Schwester (My sister's car)
Just as the dative case, certain prepositions always take the genitive case:
anstatt (instead of)
außerhalb (outside of)
innerhalb (inside of)
trotz (despite)
während (during)
wegen (because of)
