Download Accusative Case

Case #1 - Nominative Case
• What is the subject of a sentence?
The subject of a sentence is the person or
thing that is “doing” the verb. To find the
subject, look for the verb and ask “Who or
what is doing?” (substitute the verb for
“doing” -- Who or what is singing? Who or
what is sleeping?) Subjects are always in
the NOMINATIVE CASE.
The Nominative Case
Pauley’s diction:
• The subject of a clause is said to be in the
“nominative case.”
• Example: Der Junge geht
(The boy (= the SUBJECT in the
nominative case) is going.)
Accusative Case
What is the direct object of a sentence?
The direct object receives the action of the verb. To
find the direct object, look for the verb and ask “Who
or what is being verbed?” (as in Who or what is
being kicked? Who or what is being read?) Direct
objects take the ACCUSATIVE CASE.
Verb Types
• The part of the clause that links the subject
to an object is the VERB. Verbs that take an
object are called TRANSITIVE verbs.
• Example: He opened the door.
• Not all verbs however can take an object.
• Verbs that do not take an object are called
INTRANSITIVE verbs.
• Example: They arrived (i.e. you cannot
“arrive” something!).
The Accusative Case
• The direct object in a clause is the noun or
pronoun that is affected “directly” by the
subject of the verb.
• The direct object is in the accusative case.
Example:
• “Der Junge schreibt den/einen Brief”
(The boy is writing the/a letter)
(= the DIRECT OBJECT in the accusative
case)
Side Note: The Accusative
Case in English
• In English there are no special case endings
for the accusative - the / a remain the same
in both the nominative and accusative cases.
• English merely retains some nominative
pronouns: I (acc. me), we (acc. us) etc.
• The direct object can however be easily
identified by its position in the clause - it
will always come after the subject.
The Accusative Case in
German
• In German objects can precede or follow the
subject. It is the case endings and the verb
endings that tell us which case is which.
Example:
• Der Hund sieht die Katzen.
(The dog sees the cats.)
• Den Hund sieht die Katzen.
(The cats sees the dog.)
The direct object answers the questions:
Was (what)?
und
Wen (whom)?
NOTE: Who = wer
Review
• The woman sees the girl. The woman is the subject and is
nominative. The girl is the direct object and is accusative.
The girl sees the woman. The girl is the subject and is
nominative. The woman is the direct object and is
accusative.
Barack Obama is the president. Barack is the subject and is
nominative. The President is ALSO nominative because it
follows “to be” (is).
More review…
•
•
•
•
They invited me.
Paul hit the ball.
Have you seen a Shakespeare play?
He plays the piano.
Subject
Direct Object
Nominative
der
die
das
die
Accusative
den
die
das
die
Compare the nominative to the
accusative case.
masculine
feminine
neuter
plural
der
ein
kein
die
eine
keine
das
ein
kein
die
---keine
den
Accusative
einen
keinen
die
eine
keine
das
ein
kein
die
---keine
Nominative
the only difference
Accusative
Possessive
Articles
(later)
meinen, deinen, Ihren, ihren
seinen/ihren/seinen
unsren
euren
masculine
feminine
neuter
plural
der
ein
kein
die
eine
keine
das
ein
kein
die
---keine
den
Accusative
einen
keinen
die
eine
keine
das
ein
kein
die
---keine
Nominative
other
“der-words”
Accusative
Case
diesen, jeden, welchen,
manchen, solchen
Accusative Case – TIP #1
Den
Die
Das
Die
When the subject is
paired with a verb such
as
, the
sentence must have a
“direct object”.
to be complete.
‘haben’
Man hat etwas.
One has something.
Accusative Case – TIP #1
• By contrast, nouns following the verb SEIN
will ALWAYS take the nominative case.
Here is a man. Here is the man.
Hier ist ein Mann. Hier ist der Mann.
Remember, the direct object answers
the questions:
Was?
und
Wen?
s Kind hat eine
Das
e Gitarre.
Der Mann
hat den
Stuhl.
Masculine noun “Stuhl” is
the direct object, so it is in
the accusative case.
The subject
is in the
nominative
case.
Was macht er?
Er repariert
die Lampe.
This is the direct
object. It is in the
accusative case.
Wen sehen diese Leute?
Sie sehen die
Tänzers.
Was sehen diese Leute?
Sie sehen
ein
Polospiel
(den Sport).
Die
Vögel
hat ein
Haus.
(birds)
Mutter hat einen Geburtstag
(birthday).
Dieser
Seeräuber
hat einen
Schatz.
der Schatz = treasure
Dieser findet den
Schatz.
Die Studentin macht die Hausaufgaben.
Was hast du?
Was spielst du?
Was siehst du?
Was kaufst du?
Was?
Wen?
Wen siehst du?
Wen liebst du?
Wen kennst du?
Wen fragst du?
Der Mann küßt die Frau.
Die Frau küßt der Mann.
The action is
the same no
matter what
the word
order. The
man is
performing
the verb.
“Der” is the
nominative
article for
masculine
nouns. It
shows that the
noun is the
subject of the
sentence.
Wer küßt wen?
Die Frau küßt den Mann.
Den Mann küßt die Frau.
The
accusative
article “Den”
shows that
the man is
the direct
object of the
action.
The woman is
the performer
of the verb in
both
sentences.
The article
“den” answers
the question
“wen?”
Wer küßt wen?
Pronouns
• The nominative pronouns are: ich, du, er,
sie, es, wir, ihr, Sie, sie.
• The accusative pronouns are mich, dich,
ihn, sie, es, uns, euch, Sie, sie
Du besuchst
Grüß
dich!
mich endlich
wieder.
accusative case
personal
pronouns
mich
uns
dich
euch
Sie
Sie
ihn/sie/es sie
besuchen = visit
Sie liebt
mich.
Ich liebe
sie.
mich
dich
Sie
ihn/sie/es
uns
euch
Sie
sie