Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Case in German
Introduction to the Nominative, Accusative & Dative
What is Case?
3. Him Some words can function in more than one "case": "you" and "it" can
be both subjects and objects: "You love it. It loves you." How do you
mother know which one is doing the loving and which one is being loved in
knows you these sentences? Word order and the verb ending tell us which is the
nominative, the subject, the do-er, the lover. The verb ending will be
neighbor. a valuable clue in German, too, but we won't be able to depend on
word order because German word order follows different rules. To
4. Us buy figure this out in German we have to learn about "case."
this gift for English uses the same pronouns for various kinds of objects: .
German, however makes distinctions among the various kinds of
they. objects (direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions)
and uses different cases for them. To illustrate, let's correct the
Case in German
5. Her buys
they this sentences on the left, and translate the corrections into German.
gift.
Siehst du ihn?
The subject is the do-er in a sentence (e.g. "you see," "he sees").
The subject can only be a word in the nominative case.
The pronoun "he" can only function as a subject.
The word "he" is nominative.
Every sentence has a subject and a predicate. The subject is nominative. Every sentence
needs a nominative element.
The difference between "she" and "her" is a difference of case. "She" is nominative, and
"her" is not. The word "her" has other functions: it can be either a pronoun object, or a
possessive adjective. The word "her" cannot be the subject, because it is not nominative.
There are different kinds of objects. The direct object receives the action of the
verb. Prepositions also take objects.
3. Us buy this gift for they. We buy this gift for them.
When we examined sentence 2, we saw that "her" could not function as the
subject, because it is not nominative.
Here, notice that there are two objects in the sentence: one is a direct object:
"gift/Geschenk," the other the object of the preposition "for/für."
Both of these objects are in the accusative case.
We correct the sentence with a pronoun to indicate the object of the preposition
"for/für." The word "they" can function only as the subject or do-er. It is
nominative and cannot function as an object.
By the way, can you describe the other correction to sentence 3 in terms of case?
In English, we use the same words for the direct object, the object of a preposition
or an indirect object.
In German, we use different words for these different kinds of objects.
Her buys they this gift. She buys them this gift.
The nominative word "they" clearly doesn't fit here. The function of the word we
need is indirect object, the one who "benefits" from the subject's action on the
direct object.
Case in German
indirect
subject predicate direct object
object
nominative verb dative accusative
to / for
do-er action done-unto
whom?
She buys them gift
When "them" can be restated as "for them" or "to them," it is an indirect object.
We describe the function of the indirect object as dative case in German.
The ideas expressed by the prepositions "to" and "for" are strongly associated with
the dative.
The words "to" and "for" are "built into" the dative.
The facade of the Reichstag in Berlin, dedicated "to the German people."
She buys them this gift. She buys this gift for them.
In English, a pronoun like "them" can function both as accusative and dative object.
In German, however, we use different words to distinguish accusative and dative objects.
Predicate Nominative
"It is I."
In the sentences above, "it" and "I," "sie" and "Schwester" are all in the nominative case.
This is because the verb in the sentence is "to be" or sein.
sein to be
singular plural
ich bin I am wir sind we are
you are you are
du bist (singular ihr seid (plural
intimate) intimate)
er / sie / he / she /
sie sind they are
es ist it is
Case in German
Sie sind
you are (non-intimate, singular & plural)
top of page
durch through
Er geht durch den Garten.
He walks through the garden.
Case in German
für for
Kauf das Geschenk für sie.
Buy the gift for her.
gegen against
Der Demokratiker ist gegen den Republikaner.
The Democrat is against the Republican.
ohne without
Viele Menschen leben ohne einen Computer.
Many people live without a computer.
um around
Wir fahren um die Universität.
We are driving around the university.
This group of prepositions is followed by the accusative when they express a change of location.
Hänge das Bild an die Wand. Hang the picture on the wall. (It wasn't on the wall before.)
Stell die Weinflasche auf den Tisch. Put the wine-bottle on the table. (It wasn't on the table before.)
Parken Sie das Auto hinter das Haus. Park the car behind the house.
Wir gehen ins Kino. We're going to the movies (literally, into the movie-theater).
Hänge die Lampe über den Tisch. Hang the lamp over the table.
Fahr den Wagen vor das Haus. Drive the car in front of the house.
Setz dich zwischen ihn und mich. Sit down between him and me
Case in German
In the sentences above, the prepositions are followed by the accusative because the prepositional phrases indicate a
destination, or a change in location.
Das Bild hängt an der Wand. The picture is hanging on the wall. (no change in location)
Die Weinflasche steht auf dem Tisch. The wine-bottle is (standing) on the table.
Das Auto steht hinter dem Haus. The car is (standing) behind the house.
Der Film im Kino ist sehr gut. The movie in the theater is very good.
Die Lampe hängt über dem Tisch. The lamp is (hanging) over the table.
Der Wagen steht vor dem Haus. The car is (standing) in front of the house.
Du sitzt zwischen ihm und mir. You are sitting between him and me.
In these sentences, the prepositions are followed by the dative, because the prepositional phrases do not indicate a
change in location, but simply a location.
To summarize:
aus from
Ich komme aus den Vereinigten Staaten.
I come from the United States.
Ihre Jacke ist aus grüner Seide.
Her jacket is made of green silk.
mit with, by
Kommst du mit uns?
Are you coming with us?
Nein, ich fahre mit dem Taxi.
No, I'm going by taxi.
zu to, at
Ich bin zu Weihnachten zu Hause.
I am at home at Christmas.
Komm zu mir.
Come to me.
For another use of the dative after prepositions, see the preceding section, "Prepositions taking either Accusative or
Dative."
Dative verbs
Case in German
A number of verbs are called "dative verbs" because they require a dative object, rather than an accusative one.
Often these verbs can be translated with the idea of "to" or "for," which are the ideas associated with the dative.
For example:
Du hilfst mir.
helfen to help, to give help to
You help me.
Ich möchte Ihnen danken.
danken to thank, to give thanks to
I 'd like to thank you.
Folge mir!
folgen to follow
Follow me!
gratulieren to congratulate, to give Ich gratuliere Ihnen!
congratulations to I congratulate you!
Der Film gefällt meinem Vater nicht.
The movie is not pleasing to my father.
gefallen to be pleasing to
(Better translated as: My father does not
like the movie.)
Wem gehört dieses Buch?
gehören to belong to
To whom does this book belong?
Ich glaube ihnen nicht. Ihm habe ich noch
nie geglaubt.
glauben to believe, to give credence to
I don't believe them. Him, I never have
believed.
Was ist dir denn passiert? Geschieht das
dir oft?
passieren, geschehen to happen to
So what happened to you? Does that
happen to you often?
When you learn a new verb, it is best to learn if it is a dative verb as well.
If a verb is a dative verb, practice it with dative objects.
Genitive Case
Sign pointing the way to the Reichstag, the seat of the Lower House of the German Parliament
genitive with Das Büro meines Vaters ist hier. My father's office (the
subject: office of my father) is here.
genitive with direct Möchtest du das Büro meines Vaters sehen? Would you
object like to see my father's office?
genitive with Wir schicken der Mutter unseres Freundes ein Geschenk.
indirect object We're sending a gift to our friend's mother.
genitive with Wir helfen der Mutter unseres Freundes.We're helping our
dative object friend's mother.
Wir kaufen ein Geschenk für die Mutter unseres Freundes.
genitive with the
We're buying a gift for our friend's mother.
object of a
Wir übernachten bei der Familie unseres Kollegen. We're
preposition:
spending the night at the home of our colleague's family.
Hier ist die Adresse des Vaters des Kindes. Here is the
child's father's address.
genitive with (This doesn't sound any better in German than it does in English.
genitive Just as in English, Germans would prefer to say: Hier ist die
Adresse von dem Vater des Kindes. Here is the address of the
child's father.)
trotz in spite of
wegen because of