A1 · The four cases
The accusative
the direct object case
One article changes, and that one change is most of what the accusative is.
The accusative marks the direct object: the thing the verb acts on. Ich sehe den Mann — the man is being seen, so he is accusative, and the article says so.
Here is the fact that makes this topic much smaller than it looks: only the masculine changes. Der becomes den, ein becomes einen, mein becomes meinen. Feminine, neuter and plural are identical to the nominative. Three quarters of the accusative is nothing to learn at all.
The accusative is also demanded by a fixed group of prepositions — durch, für, gegen, ohne, um — regardless of what the verb is doing. That is a separate use of the same case, and it is worth keeping the two apart in your head: one comes from the verb, one comes from the preposition.
Die Form
| masculine | den Mann / einen Mann / meinen Mann |
| feminine | die Frau / eine Frau — unchanged |
| neuter | das Kind / ein Kind — unchanged |
| plural | die Leute — unchanged |
| question | Wen? Was? |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
The direct object of a verb stands in the accusative.
Ich lese den Brief.I am reading the letter.
Only the masculine article changes: der -> den, ein -> einen.
Sie kauft einen Tisch und eine Lampe.She is buying a table and a lamp.
durch, für, gegen, ohne and um always take the accusative.
Das Geschenk ist für meinen Vater.The present is for my father.
Time expressions saying how long or when stand in the accusative without a preposition.
Wir bleiben einen Monat.We are staying for a month.
Genauer hingesehen
Which verbs take an accusative, and why the list is shorter than it looks
Almost every verb that can be followed by "something" in English takes an accusative in German: sehen, hören, kaufen, lesen, machen, brauchen, suchen, finden, verstehen. You do not need a list, you need the question: is there something the verb is being done to?
The short list worth actually knowing is the other one — the verbs that look transitive in English and take a dative in German: helfen, danken, folgen, gratulieren, antworten, gehören, passen. Those are learned individually because nothing about them predicts it, and they are dealt with in the dative topic.
Ausnahmen und Sonderfälle (2)
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the noun is a weak masculine — Student, Kunde, Herr, Junge, Kollege, Nachbar
the noun itself takes -n or -en as well as the article changing.
Ich frage den Kollegen.I am asking the colleague.
This small group kept an older declension in which the noun carried the case too.
-
the preposition is in, an, auf, über, unter, vor, hinter, neben or zwischen
the accusative means movement towards, and the dative means position — the same preposition takes both.
Ich gehe in die Stadt. / Ich bin in der Stadt.I am going into town. / I am in town.
These nine prepositions describe a relation that can be either a place or a direction, and German uses the case to say which.
Woran man es erkennt
- wen
- was
- den
- einen
- durch
- für
- gegen
- ohne
- um
Beispielsätze
Ich kenne deinen Bruder.I know your brother.
Wir suchen einen Parkplatz.We are looking for a parking space.
Sie hat den Zug verpasst.She missed the train.
Ohne einen Ausweis kommen Sie nicht hinein.You cannot get in without an ID.
Er arbeitet den ganzen Tag.He works all day.
Noch 8 Beispielsätze
Hast du den Schlüssel?Have you got the key?
Ich brauche einen neuen Laptop.I need a new laptop.
Sie fragt den Nachbarn nach dem Weg.She asks the neighbour for directions.
Wir fahren durch den Tunnel.We are driving through the tunnel.
Er hat nichts gegen den Vorschlag.He has nothing against the proposal.
Bitte ohne Zwiebeln!Without onions, please!
Ich warte jeden Morgen auf den Bus.I wait for the bus every morning.
Kennen Sie diesen Mann?Do you know this man?
Besonderheiten (2)
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The five accusative prepositions fit in one line
German courses teach <z>durch, für, gegen, ohne, um</z> as a chant, and the chant is worth learning because these five never take anything else. There is no rule behind the membership of the group — it is a historical accident — so a memorised line is the honest way to hold it.
durch, für, gegen, ohne, um — immer Akkusativthrough, for, against, without, around — always accusative
-
Bare time expressions are accusative
A stretch of time with no preposition takes the accusative: <z>jeden Tag</z>, <z>letzten Montag</z>, <z>einen Monat</z>, <z>nächstes Jahr</z>. English does the same thing invisibly, since nothing changes shape; in German the endings show, which is why <z>jeden</z> and not <z>jeder</z>.
Letzten Sommer waren wir in Italien.Last summer we were in Italy.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
The masculine is the only one that moves, and that is exactly why it is forgotten: three nouns out of four behave, so the habit of not changing anything is rewarded most of the time. Turn it round when you practise — do not ask "does this need the accusative", ask "is this noun masculine", because if it is not, the question does not arise.
Only der moves. Everything else stays.
Jetzt selbst
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