The Four German Cases

Part 1: Summary Summary | Nominative | Accusative | Dative | Genitive Werfall | Wenfall | Wemfall | Wesfall Nominativ | Akkusativ | Dativ | Genitiv English also has cases, but they are only apparent with pronouns, not with nouns, as in German. When "he" changes to "him" in English, that's exactly the same thing that happens when der changes to den in German (and er changes to ihn). his allows German to ha!e more "lexibility in word order, as in the examples below, in which the nominati!e (sub#ect) case is red$ Der Hund ei!t den "ann# Den "ann ei!t der Hund# $ei!t der Hund den "ann% $ei!t den "ann der Hund% he dog bites the man. he dog bites the man. %s the dog biting the man& %s the dog biting the man&

'ince English does not ha!e the same case mar(ers ( der)den), it must depend on word order. %" you say "*an bites dog" in English, rather than "+og bites man," you change the meaning. %n German the word order can be changed "or emphasis (as abo!e),without altering the basic meaning. he "ollowing charts show the "our cases with the definite article (der, die, das), theindefinite article and the third&'erson 'ronouns (er, sie, es). -hanges "rom the nominati!e (sub#ect) case are indicated in red. .or more about each case, see the lin(s below.

Definite Articles (the) Fall Case Nom Akk Dat Gen Fall Case Nom Akk Dat Gen Mnnlich Masculine der den dem des Mnnlich Masculine ein einen einem eines Weiblich Feminine die die der der Indefinite Articles (a/an) Weiblich Feminine eine eine einer einer Schlich Neuter ein ein einem eines Mehrzahl Plural keine* keine* keinen* keiner* Schlich Neuter das das dem des Mehrzahl Plural die die den der

*Note: keine is the negative of eine, which has no plural form. But keine (no/none) can e use! in the plural" #$r hat keine B%cher.# (&e has no oo's.) ( #)n *ene!ig gi t es keine+utos.# ()n *enice there are no cars.)
he Germanic word "or each case re"lects how that case "unctions in the use o" "orms o" (er(who)$ der Werfall (nom.), der Wenfall (acc.), der Wemfall (dat.) and der Wesfall (gen.). .or more details about each case and to read articles related to the cases, see the lin(s below.

)he Accusative *ase Der Akkusativ / Der Wenfall

01'2 3 he accusati!e case with prepositions %" you misuse the accusative case in German, it could be !ery similar to saying something li(e "him has the boo(" or "her saw he yesterday" in English. With the con"usion this might cause, you can see this is not something to ta(e lightly4 %t's not #ust some esoteric grammar point5 it impacts whether people will understand your German or not (and whether you'll understand them). %n English the accusative case is (nown as the ob#ecti!e case (direct ob#ect). %n German you can tell that a noun is in the accusati!e case by the masculine article, which changes "rom der)ein to den)einen. ('ince the accusati!e only changes in the masculine gender, you don't need to worry about the "eminine, neuter or plural.) he masculine pronoun er (he) changes to ihn (him), in much the same way as English. %n the examples below, the accusati!e (direct ob#ect) word is in red$ Der Hund ei!t den "ann# he dog bites the man. Er ei!t ihn# 6e (the dog) bites him (the man). Den "ann ei!t der Hund# he dog bites the man. $ei!t der Hund den "ann% %s the dog biting the man& $ei!t den "ann der Hund% %s the dog biting the man& he direct ob#ect (accusati!e) "unctions as the recei!er o" the action o" a transiti!e !erb. %n the examples abo!e, the man is acted upon by the dog, i.e., recei!es the action o" the sub#ect ("dog"). o gi!e a "ew more transiti!e !erb examples, when you buy (kaufen) something or ha!e (ha en) something, the "something" is a direct ob#ect. he sub#ect (the person buying or ha!ing) is acting on some ob#ect.

Definite Article (the) Fall Case Nom Masc. der den Akk den leistift !en Mann !en ,agen den Prsidenten* den !un"en* *Note" -ome masc. nouns a!! an (en or (n en!ing in the accusati#e an! in all other cases esi!es the nominati#e. Interro"ati#e Pronoun (who. ( whom.) Nom (people) Acc (people) Fall Case Nom $er. who. $en. whom. $er. who. $en. whom. Indefinite Article (a/an) Masc. ein einen Akk einen leistift einen Mann einen ,agen einen Prsidenten** einen !un"en** *Note: keine is the negative of eine, which has no plural form. But keine (no/none) can e use! in the eine ein keine* Fem. eine Neu. ein Plur. keine* $er. who. $en. whom. $er. who. $en. whom. die das die Fem. die Neu. das Plur. die

plural" #)n *ene!ig gi t es keine +utos.# ()n *enice there are no cars.) **Note" -ome masc. nouns a!! (en or (n in the accusati#e an! in all other cases e/cept thenominati#e.
7ou can test "or a transiti!e !erb by saying it without an ob#ect. %" it sounds odd, and seems to need an ob#ect to sound right, then it is probably a transiti!e !erb. E+am'le$ % ha!e... ) Ich habe...5 6e bought... ) Er kaufte... 8 9oth o" these phrases answer the implied :uestion "what&" What do you ha!e& What did he buy& 0nd whate!er that is, is the direct o ,ect and in the accusative case in German. 2n the other hand i" you do this with an intransiti!e !erb, such as "to sleep," "to die," or "to wait," no direct8ob#ect completion is needed. 7ou can't "sleep," "die" or "wait" something. ( wo apparent exceptions to this test, become and be, are actually not exceptions, since they are intransiti!e !erbs that act li(e an e:ual sign, and can not ta(e an ob#ect.) 0 good additional clue in German$ all !erbs that ta(e the helping !erb sein (to be) are intransiti!e. ('ee our German Verbs page "or !erbs that ta(e sein.) 'ome !erbs in English and German can be either transiti!e or intransiti!e, but the (ey is to remember that i" you ha!e a direct ob#ect, you'll ha!e the accusati!e case in German. he Germanic word "or the accusati!e case, der Wenfall, re"lects the der8to8den change. he :uestion word in the accusati!e is, naturally enough, (en (whom)$ Wen hast du gestern gesehen%, Whom did you see yesterday&

Accusative )ime E+'ressions

he accusati!e is used in some standard time and distance expressions. Das Hotel liegt einen -ilometer von hier# he hotel lies a (ilometer "rom here. Er ver rachte einen "onat in Paris# 6e spent a month in ;aris.

Accusative Pre'ositions
he accusati!e is also used with certain prepositions. .or more, see the next page.

Dative & Der Wemfall

)he Dative *ase .sed (ith Nouns 01'2 3 he dati!e case with Prepositions he dative case in German is a !ital element o" communicating in German. %n English the dati!e case is (nown as the indirect o ,ect. <nli(e the accusati!e, which only changes in the masculine gender, the dati!e changes in all genders and in the 'lural. he pronouns also change correspondingly. %n addition to its "unction as the indirect ob#ect, the dati!e is also used a"ter certain dative verbs and with dative prepositions. %n the examples below, the dati!e word or expression is in red$ Der Poli/ist gi t dem 0ahrer einen Straf/ettel# he policeman is gi!ing the dri!er a tic(et. 1ch danke 1hnen# % than( you. Wir machen das mit einem *om'uter# We do that with a computer. he indirect ob#ect (dati!e) is usually the recei!er o" the direct ob#ect (accusati!e). %n the "irst example abo!e, the dri!er got the tic(et. 2"ten the dati!e can be translated with "to"8"the policeman gi!es the tic(et to the dri!er." he "ollowing color8coded chart shows how the dati!e "orms are used in !arious situations.

Definite Article (the) Fall Case Nom Dat Masc. der dem dem leistift dem Mann dem Wa"en Fem. die der der Frau der %erkuferin

dem Prsidenten* dem !un"en* *Note" -ome masc. nouns a!! an (en or (n en!ing in the dati#e an! in all other cases esi!es the nominati#e. Fall Case Nom Dat Neu. das dem dem Mdchen !em &aus Plur. die den den &euten den Autos

Note" )n the !ative, plural nouns a!! an (en or (n if the plural !oes not alrea!0 en! in (n, e/cept for plurals en!ing in (s. Indefinite Article (ein, eine, 'eine) Fall Case Nom Masc. ein einem Dat einem leistift einem Mann einem Wa"en einem Prsidenten* einem !un"en* einer einer Frau einer *er'1uferin Fem. eine

*Note" -ome masc. nouns a!! an (en or (n en!ing in the dati#e an! in all other cases esi!es the nominati#e. Fall Case Nom Dat Neu. ein einem einem Mdchen einem 'aus Plur. keine keinen keinen &euten keinen Autos

Note" )n the !ative, plural nouns a!! an (en or (n if the plural !oes not alrea!0 en! in (n, e/cept for plurals en!ing in (s.
he Germanic word "or the dati!e case, der Wemfall, re"lects the der8to8dem change. he :uestion word in the dati!e is, naturally enough, (em (=to> whom)$ Wem hast du das $uch gege en%, Whom did you gi!e boo(& (Who'd you gi!e the boo( to&) 'ome German !erbs do not ta(e an accusati!e ob#ect. .or more about these exceptions, see Dative Verbs (including geniti!e !erbs).

Dative Pre'ositions
he dati!e is also used with certain prepositions. .or more, see the next page.

)he Genitive *ase Der Genitiv 2 Der Wesfall

0lso see$ he geniti!e case with prepositions he genitive case in German shows possession and is expressed in English by the possessi!e "o"" or an apostrophe8s ('s). he geniti!e case is also used with some !erb idioms and with the genitive prepositions. he geniti!e is used more in written German than in spo(en "orm. %n spo(en, e!eryday German, von plus the dati!e

o"ten replaces the geniti!e$ Das Auto von meinem $ruder ? *y brother's car. 7ou can tell that a noun is in the geniti!e case by the article, which changes to des)eines(masculine and neuter) or der)einer ("eminine and plural). 'ince the geniti!e only has two "orms ( des or der), you only need to learn those two. 6owe!er, in the masculine and neuter, there is also an additional noun ending, either 8 es or 8s$ das Auto meines $ruders my brother's car (the car o" my brother) die $luse des "3dchens the girl's blouse (the blouse o" the girl) der )itel des 0ilmes (0ilms) the title o" the "ilm .eminine and plural nouns do not add an ending in the geniti!e. he "eminine geniti!e ( der)einer) is identical to the "eminine dati!e. he one8word geniti!e article usually translates as two words (o" the ) o" a)an) in English.

Definite Articles (the) Fall Case Nom Gen Nom Gen ein eines ((es/s)* Masc. der des ((es/s)* Indefinite Article (a/an) ein eine (k)einer keine Neu. das Fem. die der Plur. die

*Note" -ome masc. nouns a!! an (en or (n en!ing in the "eniti#e an! in all other cases esi!es the nominati#e. Ad(ecti#e endin"s" )n the genitive case, a!2ectives almost alwa0s have an (en en!ing. $/amples" des neuen Autos, der hohen Kosten
he Germanic word "or the geniti!e case is der Wesfall. he :uestion word in the geniti!e is(essen (whose)$ Wessen $uch hast du% (Whose boo( do you ha!e&) When showing possession with the names o" people, countries or cities, German adds an s(without an apostrophe)$ -arls Haus, "arias $uch, die Geschichte Deutschlands (Germany's history). <n"ortunately, many German8spea(ers ha!e adopted the English practice o" using an apostrophe ( Karl's Auto) "or the possessi!e "orms, but it is still considered to be substandard German. Genitive E+'ressions he geniti!e is used in some idiomatic expressions. Ende der Woche gehen (ir# 0t the end o" the wee( we're going. 1ch muss das Anfang des "onats e/ahlen# % ha!e to pay that at the start o" the month. .or more examples, see A Closer Look at the Genitive Case, an article by your Guide. Genitive Pre'ositions he geniti!e is also used with certain prepositions. .or more, see The Genitive with Prepositions