Demystifying German Cases

The good news: after you have understood this, German will suddenly become a lot easier.

The bad news: It takes a while to understand it...

What I am talking about, of course, are the complicated German cases. English also has cases. However, they are only apparent with pronouns, and not with nouns as in German. When "he" changes to "him" in English, that's exactly the same thing as when der changes to den (and er changes to ihn). This allows German to have more flexibility in its word order, as can be seen in the examples below, where the nominative (subject) case is underlined:

• Der Hund beißt den Mann. The dog bites the man.
• Den Mann beißt der Hund. The dog bites the man.
• Beißt der Hund den Mann? Is the dog biting the man?
• Beißt den Mann der Hund? Is the dog biting the man?

Thus, we Germans have found a way to get rid of the system of having the meaning depend on the word order (like in English). However, don’t get upset, because the good news is that you already know one case: the nominative, such as in der Hund, der Mann, die Frau. It is the most commonly used case in German.

Being that English does not use the same case markers (der/den), the meaning must depend on word order. If you say "man bites dog" in English rather than "dog bites man," you change the meaning. In German, the word order can be changed for emphasis (as above), without altering the basic meaning. The following charts show the four cases with the definite articles (der, die, das), the indefinite articles (ein, eine) and the third-person pronouns (er, sie, es). Changes from the nominative (subject) case are underlined.

The German word for each case reflects how that case functions with the various forms of wer (who):

• der Werfall (nominative)
• der Wenfall (accusative)
• der Wemfall (dative)
• der Wesfall (genitive)

If you are wondering if the English language has something similar, think of the difference between “who” and “whom”: “who“ goes along with “he,” and “whom” goes along with “him.”

Examples:

• Incorrect option: Who do you give the key? I give he the key (both sentences are incorrect in English).

• Correct option 1: Who do you give the key to? I give him the key.
• Correct option 2: Whom do you give the key? I give him the key.

Let's start with the first one, the nominative:

Der Werfall (Nominativ)

The nominative is the easiest case in German, and it is also the one that dictionaries use for the standard form of nouns, adjectives and articles.

In the examples below, the nominative word or expression is underlined:

• Der Hund beißt den Mann. The dog bites the man.
• Dieser Gedanke ist blöd. This thought is stupid.
• Meine Mutter ist Architektin. My mother is an architect.

The nominative case, in both German and English, is the subject of a sentence. The term nominative is from Latin and means “to name” (think of "nominate").

All German nouns have one of three possible genders: masculine (der), feminine (die) or neuter (das). The nominative plural of any gender is always die (pronunciation: DEE). These gender words are also called definite articles ("the").

The most common gender in German is masculine. Keep that in mind the next time you're guessing. These gender forms (der, die and das) are the nominative forms. They are the article or gender that is found in a German dictionary, but they may change form (or “be declined") when in one of the other three German cases.

In English, only people and personal pronouns have a gender, with rare exceptions ("she's a good ship"). However, in German, every noun (person, place or thing) has a gender. This is true regardless of whether it refers to a tree, a thought, a planet, a car or a man (all masculine nouns in German). However, it is the word (das Wort), not the object or concept itself, that has the gender.

The German word for the nominative case, der Werfall, reflects the der gender and the question word wer (who):

• Wer hat mich gestern gesehen? Who saw me yesterday?

Here is a list of common verbs that often go together with the nominative: bleiben, heißen, scheinen, sein, and werden.

Examples (nominative, nominative):

• Er bleibt ein schlechter Mensch.
• Der Berg heißt Großer Arber.
• Die Einführung der Autobahngebühr scheint ein großer Erfolg.
• Er ist ein guter Sportler.
• Er wird ein guter Arzt.

Exercises:

Need to practice the nominative? Have a look at this.

Need to practice the grammar in a different context? Have a look at these exercises.

Der Wenfall (Akkusativ)

If you misuse the accusative case in German, it could be very similar to saying something along the lines of "him has the book" or "her saw he yesterday" in English. Given the confusion that this might cause, you can see that this is not something to take lightly! It's not just some esoteric grammar point; it impacts whether people will understand your German or not (and whether you'll understand them).

In English, the accusative case is known as the objective case (direct object). In German, you can tell that a noun is in the accusative case by the masculine article, which changes from der/ein to den/einen. Since the accusative only changes in the masculine gender, you don't need to worry about the feminine, neuter or plural. The masculine pronoun er (he) changes to ihn (him), in much the same way as in English. In the examples below, the accusative (direct object) word is underlined:

• Der Hund beißt den Mann. The dog bites the man.
• Er beißt ihn. He (the dog) bites him (the man).
• Den Mann beißt der Hund. The dog bites the man.
• Beißt der Hund den Mann? Is the dog biting the man?
• Beißt den Mann der Hund? Is the dog biting the man?

The direct object (accusative) functions as the receiver of the action of a transitive verb. In the examples above, the man is acted upon by the dog. In other words, he receives the action of the subject ("dog"). To give a few more transitive verb examples, when you buy (kaufen) something or have (haben) something, that "something" is a direct object. The subject (the person buying or having) is acting on a particular object.

You can test for a transitive verb by using it without an object. If it sounds odd, and seems to need an object to sound right, then it is probably a transitive verb.

Example:

• Ich habe… I have...
• Er kaufte… He bought...

Both of these phrases answer the implied question "what?," such as in “What do you have?” or “What did he buy?” Whatever the answers to these questions are, they are considered to be the direct object and are in the accusative case in German.

On the other hand, if you do this with an intransitive verb such as "to sleep," "to die" or "to wait," no direct object completion is needed. You can't "sleep," "die" or "wait" something. Two exceptions to this rule are “become” and “be”: even though they are intransitive verbs, you actually can “be” or “become” something.

Quick tip: In German, all verbs that take the helping verb sein (to be) are intransitive. Some verbs in English and German can be either transitive or intransitive. However, the key is to remember that if you have a direct object, it will be in the accusative case in German.

The German word for the accusative case, der Wenfall, reflects the der-to-den change. The question word in the accusative is, naturally enough, wen (whom):

• Wen hast du gestern gesehen? Whom did you see yesterday?

The accusative is also used in some standard time and distance expressions:

• Das Hotel liegt einen Kilometer von hier. The hotel lies a kilometer from here.
• Er verbrachte einen Monat in Paris. He spent a month in Paris.

Here is a list of common verbs that often go together with the accusative: aufräumen, bekommen, bestellen, brauchen, essen, haben, hören, kaufen, lesen, nehmen, reparieren, suchen, trinken, vergessen, verlieren, and verstehen.

Examples (nominative, accusative):

• Ich muss mein Zimmer aufräumen.
• Martin hat einen Studienplatz in Medizin bekommen.
• Sie hat das Buch im Internet bestellt.
• Die Kinder brauchen neue Schuhe.
• Ich esse einen Apfel.
• Mein Bruder hatte einen Unfall.
• Ich höre eine CD von Michael Jackson.
• Wir kaufen einen neuen Teppich.
• Der Student liest ein Buch.
• Mein Großvater nimmt seine Medikamente regelmäßig.
• Der Mechaniker kann das Auto nicht mehr reparieren.
• Eine ältere Dame sucht einen Mann.
• Anna trinkt einen Orangensaft.
• Monika hat den Termin vergessen.
• Ich habe meinen Schlüssel verloren.
• Ich kann dich nicht verstehen.

Exercises:

Need to practice the accusative? Have a look at this.

Need to practice the grammar in a different context? Have a look at these exercises.

Der Wemfall (Dativ)

The dative case in German is a vital element of communication. In English, the dative case is known as the indirect object. Unlike the accusative, which only changes in the masculine gender, the dative changes in all genders and in the plural. The pronouns also change correspondingly.

In addition to its function as the indirect object, the dative is also used after certain dative verbs (see below) and with some dative prepositions like aus, außer, bei, gegenüber, mit, nach, seit, von, and zu. In the examples below, the dative word or expression is underlined:

• Der Polizist gibt dem Fahrer einen Strafzettel. The policeman gives the driver a ticket.
• Ich danke Ihnen. I thank you.
• Wir machen das mit einem Computer. We do that with a computer.

The indirect object (dative) is usually the receiver of the direct object (accusative). In the first example above, “the driver” received the ticket. Often, the dative can be translated with "to," such as in “the policeman gives the ticket to the driver.” The following chart shows how the dative forms are used in various situations.

The German word for the dative case, der Wemfall, reflects the der-to-dem change. The question word in the dative is, naturally enough, wem ([to] whom):

• Wem hast du das Buch gegeben? To whom did you give book? (Who'd you give the book to?)

Here is a list of common verbs that often go together with the dative: ähneln, fehlen, folgen, gefallen, gehören, gehorchen, glauben, misslingen, passen, passieren, schaden, schmecken, vertrauen, and weh tun.

Examples (nominative, dative):

• Mein kleiner Bruder ähnelt meiner Großmutter.
• Meine Familie fehlt mir.
• Ich kann der Argumentation von Peter nicht folgen.
• Der Pullover gefällt mir sehr gut.
• Das teure Auto gehört meinem Nachbarn.
• Die Kinder müssen dem Lehrer gehorchen.
• Die Frau glaubt ihrem Mann nicht.
• Die Zeichnung ist mir total misslungen.
• Meine Hose passt mir nicht mehr.
• Mir ist ein kleiner Unfall passiert.
• Rauchen schadet der Gesundheit.
• Gemüse schmeckt vielen kleinen Kindern nicht.
• Der Chef vertraut dem neuen Mitarbeiter nicht.
• Nach der Arbeit tun mir alle Knochen weh.

Exercises:

Need to practice the dative? Have a look at this.

Need to practice the grammar in a different context? Have a look at these exercises.

Der Wesfall (Genitiv)

The genitive case in German shows possession and is expressed in English by the possessive "of" or an apostrophe + s ('s). The genitive case is also used with some verb idioms and with the genitive prepositions: anstatt/statt, außerhalb, innerhalb, trotz, während and wegen. The genitive is used more in written German than in the spoken form. In spoken, everyday German, von plus the dative often replaces the genitive:

• Das Auto von meinem Bruder. My brother's car.

You can tell that a noun is in the genitive case by the article, which changes to des/eines (masculine and neuter) or der/einer (feminine and plural). Since the genitive only has two forms (des or der), you only need to learn those two. However, in the masculine and neuter, there is also an additional noun ending, either -es or -s:

• das Auto meines Bruders. My brother's car (the car of my brother).
• die Bluse des Mädchens. The girl's blouse (the blouse of the girl).
• der Titel des Filmes (Films). The title of the film.

Feminine and plural nouns do not add an ending in the genitive. The feminine genitive (der/einer) is identical to the feminine dative. The one-word genitive article is usually translated as two words in English: either “of the” or “of a(n).”

The German word for the genitive case is der Wesfall. The question word in the genitive is wessen (whose):

• Wessen Buch hast du? Whose book do you have?

When showing possession with the names of people, countries or cities, German adds an s (without an apostrophe): Karls Haus, Marias Buch, die Geschichte Deutschlands (Germany's history). Unfortunately, many German-speakers have adopted the English practice of using an apostrophe (Karl's Auto) for the possessive forms, but it is still considered to be substandard German.