Nominative
The nominative case is used for a person, animal or thing which is doing the action. In this case, you will be able to ask: Who/What did or is something? The nominative case is always used after the verbs sein and werden.
Example sentences:
- -Der Mann schläft. ⇨ Who sleeps?
- -Die Frau kocht. ⇨ Who cooks?
- -Es ist ein schönes Haus. ⇨ What is beautiful?
Accusative (den, einen)
For the direct object of a sentence: who or what is being verbed?
Example sentences:
–Ich sehe den Mann. ⇨ What do I see?
–Wir haben die Torte gegessen. ⇨ What have we eaten?
–Er hat ein Foto gemacht. ⇨ What has he made?
You can see that the noun in the sentence here is always directly affected by the verb.
Note that the very common expression “es gibt” (there is/are) requires that the noun be in the accusative case because it is grammatically a direct object.
Example sentence:
–Es gibt einen Stuhl da drüben. ⇨ There is a chair over there.
The accusative case is also always used after the accusative prepositions: durch, für, gegen, ohne, um and postpositions: bis, entlang. If a noun follows these prepositions, it will ALWAYS be in the accusative!
Example sentences:
–Er geht um den Tisch. ⇨ Around what? The table.
–Ist das Geschenk für mich? ⇨ For whom? For me.
Time expressions in a sentence are usually in accusative: jeden Tag, letzten Sommer, den ganzen Tag, diesen Abend, etc.
Example sentences: Jeden Morgen esse ich Brot zum Frühstück. ⇨ Every morning.
Dative
The dative case is used to show the indirect object of a verb. An indirect object is a person, animal or a thing the action is intended to benefit or harm. You are able to ask: Who to/for or to/for what? In most situations you can also ask whom.
Example sentences:
–Ich gab der Frau einen Apfel. ⇨ Who did I give an Apple to?
–Er hilft dem Mann beim Putzen. ⇨ Whom did he help to clean?
–Er gibt einem Mädchen einen Kuss. ⇨ Who did he give a kiss to?
Remember that not every sentence will have an indirect object – only some verbs allow an indirect object: to give (to), to bring (to), to tell (to), to buy (for), to send (to) are some examples of verbs that will almost always have an indirect object. In English, we don’t distinguish the direct and indirect object in the forms of words; instead, we often use “to” or “for” to mark these.
Genitive (des/eines Mann, der/einer Frau)
The genitive case is used to show, that something belongs to someone. You’re able to ask: Whose…?
Note:
- s is added to masculine and neuter nouns ending in: en, el or er.
- –e.g. der Lehrer → des Lehrers
- –e.g. der Geldbeutel → des Geldbeutels
- –e.g. das Eisen → des Eisens
- es is added to the most masculine and neuter nouns of one syllable ending in a consonant.
- –e.g. der Mann → des Mannes
- –e.g. das Pferd → des Pferdes
Example sentences:
- -Das Haus der Frau ist blau. ⇨ Whose house is blue?
- -Das Auto des Mannes ist schwarz. ⇨ Whose car is black?
- -Das Hufeisen des Pferdes ist kaputt. ⇨ Whose horseshoe is broken?
- -Die Farbe des Geldbeutels ist braun. ⇨ Whose colour is brown?
- -Das Auto des Lehrers ist grün. ⇨ Whose car is green?
- -Die Tasche des Mädchens ist gelb. ⇨ Whose bag is yellow?
- -Das ist die Telefonnummer einer Freundin. ⇨ Whose telephone number is that?
