There are four cases in German:
the nominative case
the accusative case
the dative case
the genitive case
You may look at each case as a name for a set of
endings or forms a definite article, an indefinite article, a possessive article
or an adjective etc. can take. That way, it is easier to talk about them because you don't
have to list the individual endings.
The nominative, the
accusative, the dative and the genitive 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 |
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 |
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
...
|
Foto |
|
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die
—*
keine
meine, deine ...
|
Brüder
Taschen
Fotos
|
|
dative
case |
dem
einem
keinem
meinem, deinem ...
|
Bruder |
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der
einer
keiner
meiner, deiner ...
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Tasche |
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dem
einem
keinem
meinem, deinem ...
|
Foto |
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den
—*
keinen
meinen, deinen ... |
Brüdern
Taschen
Fotos
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|
genitive
case |
des
eines
keines
meines, deines ...
|
Bruders |
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|
der
einer
keiner
meiner, deiner ...
|
Tasche |
|
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des
eines
keines
meines, deines ...
|
Fotos |
|
|
der
—*
keiner
meiner, deiner ... |
Brüder
Taschen
Fotos
|
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*
The indefinite article ein has no plural form.
Click
here to see the personal pronouns in the
nominative, the accusative and the dative case.
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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for the noun phrase (e.g.
friend, my friend, my old friend) that describes the subject
of a sentence when the verb is sein (to be), bleiben
(to remain), scheinen (to seem), e.g.
Er
ist
mein Lehrer. (He is my teacher.)
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.
Er
bleibt
mein Lehrer. (He remains my teacher.)
Er
scheint
mein Lehrer zu sein. (He seems to b my teacher.)
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The
accusative case
is used
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.)
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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
gestellt. (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 preposition, 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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to express measurement, amount
and distance covered, e.g.
Das Brett ist einen Meter
lang. (The board is one metre long.)
Das Kind ist erst einen Monat
alt. (The child in only one month old.)
Sie lief gestern einen
Kilometer in drei Minuten. (Yesterday she ran one
kilometre in three minutes.)
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the verbs "kosten" (to cost) and "nennen" (to
call) may require two direct objects, e.g.
Dieses Haus hat
mich
ein Vermӧgen
gekostet. (This house cost me a fortune.)
Warum hast du
ihn
einen Dummkopf
genannt? (Why did you call him a fool?)
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The
dative case
is used |
for the indirect object,
e.g.
Sie
gibt ihrem Sohn kein
Geburtstagstagsgeschenk. (She
doesn't give her son a birthday present.)
Ich habe
ihm eine E-Mail geschickt. (I sent him
an email.)
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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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with several
verbs that take a dative object instead of an accusative object, e.g.
danken: Ich mӧchte
Ihnen danken. (I would
like to thank you.)
ähneln:
Er
ähnelt seinem Großvater.
(He
resembles his grandfather.)
passen: Montagmorgen passt
mir micht. (Monday morning doesn't
suit me.)
leidtun: Es tut uns
leid. (We are sorry.)
glauben: this
verb takes a dative object with people but
an accusative object with things, e.g.
Sie glauben
dem Politiker nicht. (The don't
believe the politician.)
Ich glaube
das nicht. (I don't believe that.)
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with some adjectives, e.g.
dankbar: Er ist ihr
dankbar. (He is grateful to her.)
behilflich: Kӧnnen
Sie mir behilflich sein? (Can you
help me?)
gleich:
Das ist ihm gleich. (It's all the same to
him.)
peinlich: Sein Verhalten war
mir peinlich. (I was embarrassed by
his behaviour.)
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The
genitive case
is used
for |
for indicating possession,
e.g.
WIr haben das
Haus meiner Großeltern
verkauft. (We sold the house of our
grandparents.)
Das
Dach des Hauses brannte. (The roof of the
house was on fire.)
Die Zahl
der Studierenden ist gestiegen. (The number of
students has risen.)
Note: with proper names and family-member terms used as names
(i.e. father, mother, brother, sister), German adds an -s without an
apostrophe, e.g.
Julias Fahrrad
ist rot. (Julia's bike is red.)
Wolfgangs Augen
sind braun. (Wolfgang's eyes are brown.)
Vaters Auto
ist kaputt. (Father's car is
broken.)
Mutters Apfelkuchen
schmeckt fantastisch. (Mother's apple cake tastes wonderful.)
Note: If the name ends in an
"s"
-
sound (-s, -ß, -z, -tz), no "s" is added. In writing, the omission
of this "s" is indicated by an apostrophe. When speaking, a
construction with
"von"
+ dative is used instead of the genitive, e.g.
Markus'
Garten ist sehr groß. / Der Garten von Markus ist sehr groß.
(Markus' garden is very big.)
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after prepositions that are
always followed by the genitive case,
e.g.
Er ist trotz des Regens
in den Garten gegangen. (Despite the rain he
went into the garden.)
Während
des Sommers hat es kaum geregnet.
(There was hardly any rain during the
summer.)
Dank seiner finanziellen Hilfe konnte
sie studieren. (Thanks to his financial help she was able to study.)
Während des zweiten Semesters hatte
er viele Probleme. (During his second semester he had a lot of problems.
)
Wegen der
Wirtschaftskrise gingen
viele Firmen bankrott. (Because of the economic crisis a lot of
companies went bankrupt.)
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for expressions of indefinite time, e.g.
eines Tages
(one day)
eines Morgens (one morning)
eines Abends (one evening)
eines Nachts
(one night) (Note: unusual form since "Nacht" is a feminine
noun)
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with a very small number of adjectives, e.g.
sich einer Sache bewusst sein (to be aware of
something)
sich einer Sache gewiss sein (to be certain of
something)
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in some expressions, e.g.
meines Wissens (as far as I know)
ich bin anderer Meinung (I am of a different
opinion)
guter/schlechter Laune sein (to be in a good/bad mood)
allen Ernstes (in all seriousness)
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with a very small number of verbs that are
rarely used nowadays, e.g.
sich einer Sache erfreuen: Sie erfreute sich
bester Gesundheit. (She enjoyed very good health.)
einer Sache bedürfen: Das bedurfte seiner Erlaubnis. (His permission
was requested.)
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