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There are four cases in German:
the nominative case
the accusative case
the dative case
the genitive case
In section A1 Higher, you will only come across the
first 3 cases, the nominative case, the accusative case and the dative
case.
The cases determine the grammatical role which a
noun
and its accompanying words (e.g. definite articles or possessive articles)
or a pronoun play in a sentence. Depending on the role, the article
words have different endings, the pronouns different forms and the nouns
may add an ending, e.g.
Der kleine Garten
liegt hinter dem Haus. (The small garden is situated behind the house.):
the small garden = subject of the sentence -> nominative
Er liebt
den kleinen Garten.
(He loves the small garden.): the small garden = direct object of the
sentence -> accusative
Er verbringt viel Zeit
in dem
kleinen Garten. (He spends a lot of time in the small garden.):
in the small garden = adverbial phrase of place -> dative because of the
prepostion "in")
Seine Brüder sind noch
sehr klein. (His brothers are still very small.): his brothers = subject
of the sentence
Er spielt oft
mit
seinen Brüdern. (He often plays with his brothers.): with his
brothers = adverbial phrase of manner -> dative because of the
preposition "with"
Er
ist mein Freund. (He is my friend.): he = subject of the sentence -> nominative
Ich treffe
ihn morgen
Abend. (I meet him tomorrow evening.): him = direct object of the
sentence -> accusative
The nominative case
is used
for
the subject of a
sentence, e.g.
Mein Bruder studiert in Cork. (My brother is
studying in Cork.)
Die
Milch ist sauer? (The
milk is sour.)
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the noun phrase (e.g.
friend, my friend, my old friend) that describes the subject
of a sentence when the verb is "to be" (= sein), e.g.
Er
ist
mein Lehrer. (He is my teacher.)
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Er |
ist |
mein Lehrer.
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subject (nominative) |
verb |
nominative |
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This
means
that there are 2 nominatives in this
sentence.
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The
accusative case
is used
for
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the direct object of a
sentence, e.g.
Ich habe
keinen Laptop. (I have no laptop.)
Sie trifft heute Abend
ihren Freund.
(This evening she is going to meet
her friend.)
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to complete the meaning of "es
gibt" (there is, there are), e.g.
Es gibt
einen Zoo in Dublin.
(There is a zoo in Dublin.)
Gibt es
eine Post hier in der Nähe?
(Is
there a post office around here?)
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after prepositions that are
always followed by the accusative case,
e.g.
Sie
geht nie ohne ihren Regenschirm
spazieren. (She never goes for a walk
without her umbrella.)
Ich
habe den Rucksack für meinen
Bruder gekauft. (I bought the rucksack
for my brother.)
[You
actually need the accusative twice in this
sentence, after the preposition "für" and
for the direct object of the sentence (den
Rucksack).]
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after prepositions that can
require the accusative case or the dative case like "in" or "auf" if
you can ask "Where to?", e.g.
Wir sind in den Garten
gegangen. (We went into the garden.)
Er hat den Schlüssel auf den Tisch
gelegt. (He put the key onto the table.)
[You
actually need the accusative twice in this
sentence, after the preposition "auf" and
for the direct object of the sentence (den
Schlüssel).]
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for definite time expressions
without a prepositions, e.g.
jeden Tag
(every
day)
nächste Woche (next week)
letztes
Wochenende (last weekend)
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for greetings and good wishes,
e.g.
Guten
Abend.
(Good
evening.)
Gute Reise! (Have a good trip!)
Schönes Wochenende! (Have a nice
weekend!)
Frohe Ostern! (Have a nice Easter!)
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The
dative case
is used
for |
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after prepositions that are
always followed by the dative case,
e.g.
Sie
spricht mit ihrer Chefin. (She
is talking to her boss.)
Das
Buch habe ich von meinem Vater
bekommen. (I got this book from my father.)
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after prepositions that can
require the accusative case or the dative case like "in", "auf" or
"an" if you can ask "Where?" or "When?",
e.g.
Wir haben die Party in seinem
Garten gefeiert. (We celebrated the
party in his garden.)
Die Ferien beginnen in einer Woche. (The
holidays are going to start in one week.)
Der Schlüssel liegt auf dem Tisch.
(The key is on the table.)
Ich treffe ihn an dem Sonntag
nach Halloween. (I am going to meet him the
Sunday after Halloween.)
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The nominative, the
accusative and the dative forms of
- the definite article [= the], e.g. der, die, den
- the indefinite article
[= a(n)], e.g. ein, eine, einen
- the negative form of "ein-", e.g. kein,
keinen, keinen
- the
possessive article "mein" and "dein" (as examples for all the other
possessive articles)
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masculine singular
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feminine singular
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neuter singular
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masculine, feminine &
neuter plural
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nominative
case |
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der
ein
kein
mein, dein
... |
Bruder |
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die
eine
keine
meine, deine
...
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Tasche |
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das
ein
kein
mein, dein
...
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Foto |
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die
—*
keine
meine, deine ...
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Brüder
Taschen
Fotos
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accusative
case |
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den
einen
keinen
meinen, deinen
... |
Bruder |
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die
eine
keine
meine, deine
...
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Tasche |
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das
ein
kein
mein, dein
...
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Foto |
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die
—*
keine
meine, deine ...
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Brüder
Taschen
Fotos
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dative
case |
dem
einem
keinem
meinem, deinem ...
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Bruder |
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der
einer
keiner
meiner, deiner ...
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Tasche |
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dem
einem
keinem
meinem, deinem ...
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Foto |
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den
—*
keinen
meinen, deinen ... |
Brüdern**
Taschen
Fotos
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* There is no
plural form of "ein".
** If the plural form of a noun
does not end in -n or -s, an -n must be added in the dative plural.
Click
here to see the personal pronouns in the
nominative, the accusative and the dative case.
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