die Matrikelnummer

There are four cases in German:

the nominative case

the accusative case

the dative case

the genitive case

(The genitive case will be introduced at a later stage.)

A case indicates the function a noun phrase (e.g. friend, my friend, my old friend) or a personal pronoun (e.g. I, you, he, she, it) has in the clause, e.g. it can be the subject of a sentence (for which you need the nominative case) or the direct object of a sentence (for which you need the accusative case), e.g.

Der Park ist sehr klein. (The park is very small.) -> der Park = subject of the sentence

Ich finde den Park schön. (I find the park nice.) -> den Park = direct object of the sentence

Er studiert in Berlin. (He is studying in Berlin.) -> Er = subject of the sentence

Mein Freund besucht ihn am Wochenende. (My friend is going to visit him at the weekend.) -> ihn - direct object of the sentence

Click here for more information about the difference between a subject and a direct object.

Also, each preposition requires a certain case (mainly the accusative or the dative case, but some prepositions are followed by the genitive case), e.g.

Ich gehe immer durch den Park. (I always go through the park.) → den Park is in the accusative case because of durch

Er kommt gerade aus dem Park. (He is just coming out of the park.) → dem Park is in the dative case because of aus

Click here for more information on prepositions.

definite articles (der, die, das...), indefinite articles (ein, eine ....), kein- and possessive adjectives (mein, dein, sein ....) in the nominative, in the accusative and in the dative case:

	masculine	singular	feminine	singular	neuter	singular	masculine, neuter	feminine & plural
nominative case	der ein kein mein	Bruder	die eine keine meine	Tasche	das ein kein mein	Foto	die — keine meine	Brüder Taschen Fotos
accusative case	den einen keinen meinen	Bruder	die eine keine meine	Tasche	das ein kein mein	Foto	die — keine meine	Brüder Taschen Fotos
dative case	dem einem keinem meinem	Bruder	der einer keiner meiner	Tasche	dem einem keinem meinem	Foto	den — keinen meinen	Brüdern Taschen Fotos

Unlike ein, kein has a plural form, e.g. Magst du Horrorfilme? -> Ich mag keine Horrorfilme.

In the above table only mein is listed as an example, but all the possessive adjectives take the same endings as the indefinite article, i.e. if ein does not have an ending, they do not have one either, and if ein adds an ending, they add the very same one.

When do you use the cases?

The nominative case is used

C for the subject of a sentence, e.g. Mein Bruder studiert in Cork. (My brother is studying in Cork.)

Wohnt er hier? (Does he live here?)

C for the noun phrase that describes the subject when the verb is sein (to be) e.g.

Er ist mein Lehrer. (He is my teacher.)

Das ist ein Adapter. (This is an adapter.)

Meine Nachbarn sind auch meine Freunde. (My neighbours are also my friends.)

Bist du ein guter Tennisspieler? (Are you a good tennis player?)

This means that there are 2 nominatives in these sentences.

The accusative case is used

C for 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.)

Er kauft es nicht. (He doesn't buy it.)

C for definite time expressions without a preposition, e.g.

jeden Tag ( every day)

nächste Woche (next week)

jedes Jahr (every year)

C 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?)

C for greetings and good wishes, e.g.

guten Morgen (good morning)

gute Nacht (good night)

schönes Wochenende (have a nice week-end)

C after prepositions that always take the accusative case, e.g. für:

Das Buch ist für meinen Vater. (The book is for my father.)

Das Buch ist für meine Mutter. (The book is for my mother.)

C after prepositions governing the accusative or the dative case like in if you can ask “where to?”, e.g.

Wir gehen in die Bibliothek. (We are going to the library.)

Wir gehen ins (= in + das) Kino. (We are going to the cinema.)

Wir gehen in den Biergarten. (We are going to the beer garden.)

The dative case is used

C after prepositions that always take the dative case, e.g. von:

Das Buch ist von meinem Vater. (The book is from my father.)

Das Buch ist von meiner Mutter. (The book is from my mother.)

C after prepositions governing the accusative or the dative case like in if you can ask “where?” or "when"?, e.g.

Sie ist in der Bibliothek. (She is in the library.)

Sie arbeitet in einem Kino. (She is working in a cinema.)

Ich treffe meine Freunde im (= in +dem) Biergarten. (I’ll meet my friends in the beer garden.)

In einem Jahr ist sie mit dem Studium fertig. (In one year she'll have finished her studies.)

Am (an+dem) Sonntag habe ich keine Zeit. (I have no time on Sunday.)

Vor einem Monat war ich in Australien. (One month ago I was in Australia.)

Later on you will learn about a few more uses of the cases.

Click here for more information on the various elements of a sentence (e.g. subject, direct object) .