Nominative, Accusative, and Dative: When to Use (Hausaufgaben) -
Them (Antworten)
Nominative
• for the subject of a sentence: who or what is doing this?
Der Student lernt Deutsch.
• for predicate nouns: when the main verb is sein or werden, use the nominative
for both subject and predicate nouns.
Das ist ein Tisch.
Accusative
• for the direct object of a sentence: who or what is being <verbed>?
Ich habe einen Tisch. What is being had? A table.
Note that the very common expression "es gibt" (there is/are) requires that the
noun be in the accusative case because it is grammatically a direct object.
Es gibt einen Stuhl da drüben. There is a chair over there.
• after the accusative prepositions and postpositions: durch, für, gegen, ohne,
um (memory aid: dogfu), as well as the postpositions bis and entlang . If a noun
follows these prepositions, it will ALWAYS be in the accusative!
Er geht um den Tisch. Around what? The table.
Ist das Geschenk für mich? For whom? For me.
• time expressions in a sentence are usually in accusative: jeden Tag, letzten
Sommer, den ganzen Tag, diesen Abend, etc. We haven’t officially learned this yet,
but it’s good to know.
Jeden Morgen esse ich Brot zum Every morning.
Frühstück.
Dative
• for the indirect object of a sentence. An indirect object is the beneficiary of
whatever happens in a sentence. It’s usually a person, although it doesn’t have to
be. If you ask yourself: “TO whom or FOR whom is this being done?”, the answer
will be the indirect object, and in German it will need the dative case. Remember
that not every sentence will have an indirect object -- only some verbs allow an
indirect object: to give (to), to bring (to), to tell (to), to buy (for), to send (to) are
some examples of verbs that will almost always have an indirect object. In English,
we don't distinguish the direct and indirect object in the forms of words; instead,
we often use "to" or "for" to mark these.
Ich gebe der Frau ein Buch. I’m giving her a book = a book to her.
Er schenkt mir ein Buch. He's giving me a book.
Ich habe das dem Mann schon gesagt. I already told the man that.
• after the dative prepositions: aus, außer, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu (memory
aid: Blue Danube Waltz). A noun immediately following these prepositions
is ALWAYS in the dative case. There are many possible translations of these
prepositions, depending on exactly what the context of the sentence is. Please refer
to your textbook, pp. 239-240, for more detailed explanation of the meanings of
each preposition.
Sie haben ein Geschenk von ihrem Vater bekommen. From their father.
Außer meiner Mutter spricht meine ganze Familie Deutsch. Except for my mother.
Ich fahre am Wochenende zu meiner Tante in Minnesota. To my aunt's.
• after dative verbs: helfen, danken, gefallen, gehören, schmecken, passen. See
your book for more details on each verb. There's no direct translation that explains
why these verbs take a dative object, it's just an idiosyncrasy of German -- it's best
just to memorize these verbs as requiring the dative, even though the following
noun doesn't 'feel' like an indirect object.
Ich helfe dir mit deinen I'm helping you = I'm giving help to you.
Hausaufgaben.
Wir danken Ihnen, Herr Stein. We're thanking you = we're giving thanks to
you.
• with some adjectives which describe a condition. You'll just need to know
these as fixed phrases.
Mir ist warm. To me (it) is warm / I'm warm.
Wie geht es dir? How's it going / How are you doing?
• the preposition “in” often uses the dative case. Later this week you will be
learning more about this preposition and how to use it correctly. For now, the most
you need to know is that when ‘in’ is used with a stationary verb (e.g. He’s in the
house), it takes the dative case.
Der Tisch steht in der Küche. Where is it? In the kitchen.
Mein Schreibtisch ist im Arbeitszimmer. Note that im = in dem
Die Kinder sind in ihren Zimmern. The children are in their rooms, plural.
Summary: When to use which case
So, when you're trying to decide which case to use, consider the following things:
1. Is it a fixed expression? (such as Mir ist kalt, or Es tut mir Leid)
2. Does the noun follow either an accusative or a dative preposition? If so,
this should be easy, since the preposition determines the case. Just make
sure you know which prepositions take the accusative (dogfu) and which
take the dative (Blue Danube Waltz). Once you have the accusative and
dative prepositions memorized, these are your friends when it comes to
case -- they tell you exactly what to do. (Next semester you will learn
some other prepositions which aren't quite so easy.)
3. Is the verb a dative verb? If so, the object will be in the dative.
4. If none of the other conditions apply, then you need to determine which
noun in the sentence is the subject, and put that in nominative. Then look
for a direct object (put in accusative) and indirect object (put in dative).
Remember that not every sentence necessarily has a direct object and an
indirect object: some have only one or the other, or none at all.
If you need reference to these, here's a table of the different endings and pronouns
in the three cases:
Nom Akk Dat (Poss)
1 sg ich mich mir (mein_)
2 sg du dich dir (dein_)
3 sg er ihn ihm (sein_)
3 sg sie sie ihr (ihr_)
3 sg es es ihm (sein_)
1 pl wir uns uns (unser_)
2 pl ihr euch euch (euer_)
3 pl sie sie ihnen (ihr_)
form Sie Sie Ihnen (Ihr_)
masc der den dem
fem die die der
neut das das dem
plur die die den (+ _n)
masc ein einen einem
fem eine eine einer
neut ein ein einem
plur keine keine keinen (+ _n)
masc unser unseren unserem
fem unsere unsere unserer
neut unser unser unserem
plur unsere unsere unseren (+ _n)
masc dieser diesen diesem
fem diese diese dieser
neut dieses dieses diesem
plur diese diese diesen (+ _n)
It may help you to remember these changes with the mnemonic device “rese nese
mr mn” -- in other words, der-die-das-die, den-die-das-die, dem-der-dem-den.
The question words wer - wen - wem
To ask “who” in German, you need to decided whether the “who” is the subject,
the direct object, or the indirect object. The forms of ‘wer’ are just like the
masculine article: wer - wen - wem.
Wer ist das? Who is that?
Wer kommt morgen zur Party? Who’s coming to the party tomorrow?
Wen hast du eingeladen? Whom did you invite?
Wem hast du das Buch gegeben? To whom did you give the book?
