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© Leigh McClelland 2002
(No, not that kind!)
In German, cases are a way of showing you the
part played by a noun in a sentence.
(No, not that kind of part!)
A noun could play one of several parts in a sentence,
each represented by one of the four cases:
Nominative
Accusative
Dative
Genitive
In German the spelling of the words for ‘a’ and ‘the’ (and
similar ‘initial’ words) changes depending on what part the
noun plays in the sentence, i.e. what case it is. Follow the
man with the arrow to see the exact changes in spelling for
‘a’ & ‘the’ later! He looks something like this:
The nominative is used to indicate the subject of the sentence.
The subject is the ‘doer’ of the sentence. That is, the person or
thing doing the action described by the verb.
Der Mann fährt ski.
To find the subject always ask yourself:
‘Who or what’ before the verb?
e.g. Who or what is skiing?
Subject = der Mann
Die Sonne scheint.
Who/what is shining?
Subject = die Sonne
Der Vogel singt.
Who/what is singing?
Subject = der Vogel
Der Bus fährt zur Schule.
Who/what is going to school?
Subject = der Bus
The nominative case is also required
before and after these verbs:
sein
to be
werden
to become
heißen
to be called
The accusative is used to indicate the direct object of the sentence.
The object is the ‘receiver’ of the action or thought described by the verb.
Der Junge wirft den Ball.
To find the direct object always ask yourself:
‘Whom or what’ after the verb?
e.g. Throwing whom/what?
Object = den Ball
Der Mann trägt eine Tasche.
Carries whom/what?
Object = die Tasche
Der Junge spielt Fußball.
Plays whom/what?
Object = Fußball
Er hat einen Hund.
Has whom/what?
Object = einen Hund
The accusative case is also required
after these prepositions:
f
u
d
g
e
b
o
w
= für
= um
= durch
= gegen
= entlang
= bis
= ohne
= wider
(for)
(at/about)
(through)
(against)
(along)
(until)
(without)
(against)
The dative is used to indicate the indirect object of the sentence.
The dative case is used to express the idea of ‘to’ or ‘for’
someone or something. The indirect object is the person or thing
to whom something is offered, given, etc.
Der Junge gibt dem Mann
ein Geschenk.
‘The boy gives a present to the man.’
or
‘The boy gives the man a present.’
The English equivalent of the indirect
object is ‘to…’ but this idea is often
hidden (but understood) in English.
The dative case is also required
after these prepositions:
a
b
g
m
n
s
v
z
= aus
= bei
= gegenüber
= mit
= nach
= seit
= von
= zu
(from, out of)
(at)
(opposite)
(with)
(to, after)
(since)
(from, of)
(to)
The dative case is also required after
these verbs:
erklären
(to explain [to])
sagen
(to say [to])
erzählen
(to tell [to])
schenken
(to give [to] as present)
geben
(to give [to])
helfen
(to [give] help [to])
zeigen
(to show [to])
The genitive is hardly used in spoken German but is often found
in written German.
The genitive case translates ‘of’ the/my etc. You use it to talk
about who or what things belong to.
In German you say ‘the car of my mother’ (not ‘my mother’s car’).
Der Regenschirm der Frau.
If you are using the genitive with a name, you can simply say
‘Gabis Schwester’, ‘Peters Onkel’, etc. But you do NOT need
an apostrophe before the ‘s’.
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine
Plural
der
das
die
die
ein
ein
eine
-
Back
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine
Plural
den
das
die
die
einen
ein
eine
-
Back
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine
Plural
dem
dem
der
den
einem
einem
einer
-
Back
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine
Plural
des
des
der
der
eines
eines
einer
-
Back