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die
einem
the key to German . . .
keinen
unser
If you put any of those words (der, eine,
dieses, meiner, unser) in front of any
word, which kind of words are we talking
about?





the dog
a table
this book
my sister
our house
nouns
The functions of nous in phrases
At primary school you learn that a verb is a ‘doing’ word.
Nouns are always linked to the verb:
The shortest possible sentence is one verb and one noun (a
pronoun maybe):
 I sleep
 The cat sleeps
Other verbs demand more nouns:
 The dog eats the bone
 The boy sees the ball
Others, still more:
 The man writes the woman a letter
 The Grandad gives the boy a present
In order to be able to express yourself clearly in
German, you need to be able to recognise
which role each of the nouns plays in each
phrase.
 is it a subject?
The person or thing doing the verb/action

Is it a direct object?
The person or thing having the verb/action done to it

Is it an indirect object?
The person or thing who/which is indirectly affected by
the verb
The difference from English
subject
object
Journalists say that if a dog bites a man it‘s not newsworthy.
But if a man bites a dog, it‘s a sensational story.
subject
object
The headline would read:
Man bites Dog!
subject
verb
object
In English the subject and object are easy to identify, because
the subject is placed in front of the verb and the object after
the verb. There is no room for flexibility.
SVO - language
King loses
trousers!
in German . . .
... you can‘t tell that something is the subject just because it comes
first or before the verb, or that something is the object just
because it comes after the verb. Unlike English, it is the form of
the article (the / a), not the position in the sentence, which shows
which word performs which function: the role of the subject and
which the role of the object.
both sentences mean the same thing!
How do I work it out?
Use the verb and ask the questions:
1. who bites?
S
V
=answer gives you the subject
2. bites what?
V
O
= answer gives you the direct object
different types of objects . . .
The boy gives
his mum the present
who gives?
Indirect object
gives what?
What role does “his Mum” play?
She‘s the person to whom the present is being given – she is
indirectly being affected by the verb and is therefore the
INDIRECT OBJECT: “Something/Someone to whom
something is being given or done or said, etc.”
the indirect object
“Something/Someone to whom something is being given or
done/said, etc.” In English you can use the word “to”, but you don’t always
need to – it is implied, in German you don’t need a word for ‘to’ at all.
 The boy gives the present to his mum
 The boy gives his mum the present
now you have a go . . .
“Parents give £3,000 to Local School”
“Queen presents
Granny with an
award!”
“30-year-old
wrote Santa a
letter!”
“Pupils introduced
to the Mayor”
telling the difference in German
case:
gender:
masculine
noun
feminine
noun
neuter
noun
subject:
who ~?
(nominative)
der
ein
die
eine
das
ein
direct object: indirect object
~to whom?
~ what?
(dative)
(accusative)
den
einen
die
eine
das
ein
dem
einem
der
einer
dem
einem
some practice: nom/acc?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
___ Kassette (f) ist kaputt
Reparierst du bitte ___ Stuhl (m)
Hast du ___ Wagen gesehen? (m)
___ Haus (n) ist kalt
___ Lehrerin (f) ist krank
Hast du _____ Uhr (f)?
Ich werde _____ Pullover kaufen
(m)
Ich möchte ___ Hund (m)
Wir singen ___ Lied (n)
____ Bein (n) ist gebrochen [–my]
Use the word for
“the”
Use the word for
“a”
r e s
n e s
m r m
r n m
e e r
s s m
. . . und nochmal . . .
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Ich schenke ____ Mutter Pralinen zum Geburtstag (my).
Schreibst du ______ Onkel _____ Karte? (your - m/ a - f)
Was hast du _____ Lehrer gesagt? (the)
Ich habe _____ Bettler (m) zehn Euro gegeben.
____ Weihnachstmann (m) gibt ____ Jungen (m) ____ Fußball (m).
Wir schenken ____ Tante (our) ___ Buch (a - n).
______ Organisation (this - f) gebe ich nie wieder Geld!
Bring ____ Pferd (the - n) etwas zu fressen.
Er wird ___ Geschichte (f) _____ Lehrerin (no) erzählen.
___ Mann gibt ____ Frau ____ Rose (a - f).
____ Mutter schenkt ____ Kind (n) _____ Geschenk (a - n).
____ Junge schreibt ____ Mädchen (n) ______ Brief (a - m).