As you know you can use the questions “who” (“wer”) or “what” (“was”) in the nominative case to find out what the subject of the sentence is. The cases are an important part of German grammar as they are responsible for the endings of adjectives, indefinite articles and when to use which personal pronoun. If we change the order of the words, we get a completely different meaning. Up until now we've been using the accusative for things that are the direct object in a sentence: Or the thing being "verbed". How many? Wir haben ein Auto gesehen. To determine whether something is nominative or accusative, ask yourself if the noun in question is a doer. If a noun is the direct object in a sentence (that is, it is on the receiving end of the action), you use the accusative case. Maybe they do by now, or a beginner stumbles upon this, here is a clear-up of **Nominative and Accusative. How to pronounce German words: How to say those Ä, Ö, Ü symbols and that weird ß thing, Lesson 4: Introduction to German nouns (and nieces), German nouns, noun genders, plural nouns, and all the different ways to say "the", Lesson 5: German greetings and essentials. That was another cunning one. In the accusative case the masculine article is different. : And here are some examples of the ACCUSATIVE case: . These two cases tell us which noun is the actor, and which is being acted upon. How to compare things in German (i.e., better, best) using comparatives and superlatives. The nominative is the easiest case in German and also the one dictionaries use as the But there's another time you'll use the accusative case. The questions for the accusative are “whom” (“wen”) or “ what” (“was”). Accusative Dative Nominative Genitive German cases are four. Or the bird hates the dog? For example, verbs might jump to the end of the German sentence, or you might see three nouns sitting right next to each other in the middle of a German sentence. 'A car' is the direct object as it was 'seen'. In a previous lesson, you learned that the word “the” is different for each gender. And when a noun is in the accusative case, the words for "the" change a teeny tiny bit from the nominative. (Despite the fact that it's a bunch of very masculine men, hah! Für is one of our accusative prepositions, so it signals that the next noun in the sentence (der Mann) should be in the accusative case. I think it is a good idea to repeat the lesson on Indefinite Articles ein, eine and the lesson on Accusative Case „den“ before you do this lesson. You might wonder, “Wait, what’s going on? As you know you can use the questions “who” (“wer”) or “what” (“was”) in the nominative case to find out what the subject of the sentence is. First, we need to understand the different parts of a sentence. Correct translation: "I think that the bird hates the dog." Relative clauses can be nominative, accusative, dative or genitive. But a German speaker has no trouble figuring out that little riddle, because the "little words" (der and den) are revealing everything, through (dun dun dunnnn!) And because der Park is a masculine noun, it changes to den Park. How? German pronouns also take on different forms in the various cases. We'll walk you through this in baby steps. Now that you've got that nailed, let's look at our first German case. Yup, if the noun happens to be masculine,  then when it is the direct object in the sentence, it changes to "den" instead of "der". But because das Haus is a neutral noun, it doesn't change. The nominative is underlined. And here are some examples of the ACCUSATIVE case: Der Mann kauft die CD. We’ll catch up with the lovebirds later. The German accusative case and nominative case – Part 2. Other people like to put them in a certain order that seems to “flow.”. For this example, we’ll use these words: Let’s start with a simple sentence that looks a lot like English. For everything other than the masculine words, the word for "the" is exactly the same for the subject/nominative as it is for the direct object/accusative. In order to choose the correct word for "the", you need to know the gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) of the noun and the case: (There are other parts, but these three are the focus of this lesson.). Remember at the start of this lesson when you met a dog and a bird who just couldn't see eye to eye? If you ask yourself: “TO whom or FOR whom is this being done?”, the answer will be the indirect object, and in German it will need the dative case. Why? Zum Beispiel They are found in the nominative, accusative, and dative case only. Ok! We gave you a confusing sentence where it was hard to know whether the bird hates the dog, or the dog hates the bird. Here’s a quick refresher: It turns out that those little words (der/die/das) change depending on whether the noun is the subject of the sentence or the direct object.Â, If the noun is the subject of the sentence (it is doing the action in the sentence), then it belongs in the nominative case.Â. Accusative or nominative. The nominative case is one of four cases in German. One of the first major differences you will find with German grammar is the concept of case. Here are some examples of the NOMINATIVE case: . There are some connecting words (prepositions) which always signal that you should use the accusative case. Take a look at this sentence. Take a look at this second example that uses two feminine nouns (Frau, Blume): See how they're both the same? German Nominative. Der Mann kauft die CD. There are nominative forms of the pronouns and of the definite and indefinite articles. Whatever works for you. Die Frau liest das Buch. The nominative uses the articles “der”, “die”, “das” and “ein”, “eine”, “ein”. What? Genitive While English does not have marked cases, you will still get the benefit of refreshing your English grammar as we compare the two languages.