German Accusative Case (der Akkusativ)
In this lesson, we will explore the complexities of the “German accusative case,” a crucial part of German grammar that is essential for forming correct and meaningful sentences.
Understanding German Accusative Case
The German language uses cases to determine the grammatical role of a noun or pronoun in a sentence. Let’s start with a brief overview of the functions of the German cases, as shown in Table 1.1:
| Cases | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | subject | performs action |
| Accusative | direct object | affected by action |
| Dative | indirect object | recipient of action |
| Genitive | possessive | indicates ownership |
The German accusative case corresponds to the English direct object and indicates who or what is impacted by an action.
🇩🇪 Der Mann (Nomiative case) hat einen Hund (Accusative case).
🇺🇸 The man has a dog.
In this sentence, “Der Mann” is the subject performing the action and is therefore in the nominative case. The subject conjugates the verb, so here, “haben” is conjugated by “der Mann.” “Einen Hund” is the direct object, affected by the subject’s action, which makes it accusative.
Article Declension in Accusative Case
Table 1.2 illustrates how German articles change in the accusative case:
In the accusative case, the articles for masculine nouns change. For example, the nominative article “der” becomes “den” in the accusative case. The articles for feminine, neuter, and plural nouns remain the same as in the nominative case.
| Cases | Masculine | Feminine | Neutral | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der ein | die eine | das ein | die ✖️ |
| Accusative | den einen | die eine | das ein | die ✖️ |
For example, consider the declensions of the words in Table 1.3:
| Cases | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | Der Stuhl Chair Die Frau Woman Das Haus Haus | Die Stühle Chairs Die Frauen Women Die Häuser Hauses |
| Akkusativ | Den Stuhl Chair Die Frau Woman Das Haus Haus | Die Stühle Chairs Die Frauen Women Die Häuser Hauses |
In the accusative case, only masculine nouns with the article “der” change to “den.” Feminine nouns (with “die”), neuter nouns (with “das”), and plural nouns (with “die”) do not change in the accusative case., in German, only the nouns with the article “der” change in the accusative case.
However, masculine nouns with weak declension, which end in -e(n) in the plural and have the article “der,” show a special declension in the accusative case. In the singular, they take the –e(n) ending, as if they were plural. For example:
| Cases | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | Der Soldat Soldier | Die Soldaten Soldiers |
| Akkusativ | Den Soldaten Soldier | Die Soldaten Soldiers |
In what situations is the accusative case used?
1. To identify the direct object in German, locate the verb and ask, “wen” (whom) or “was” (what).
🇩🇪 Julia liebt ihren Mann. (Wen liebt Julia?)
🇺🇸 Julia loves her husband. (Whom does Julia love?)
🇩🇪 Ich habe einen Hund. (Was hast du?)
🇺🇸 I have a dog. (What do you have?)
2. The primary function of the accusative case in German is to mark the direct object (direktes Objekt = Akkusativobjekt) of transitive verbs.
🇩🇪 Er hat einen Hund.
🇺🇸 He has a dog.
3. The accusative case is also used with accusative prepositions.
🇩🇪 Ich habe eine Tasche für meinen Bruder.
🇺🇸 I have a bag for my brother.
4. The accusative case is used with time expressions (mit Zeitangaben).
🇩🇪 Jeden Tag gehe ich joggen.
🇺🇸 Every day, I go jogging.
Some common time expressions are listed in Table 1.4:
| jeden Tag | every day |
| jeden Morgen | every morning |
| letzten Sommer | last summer |
| diesen Winter | this winter |
| den ganzen Abend | the whole evening |
5. Verbs that require the accusative case (Verben mit Akkusativ) use the accusative.
🇩🇪 Ich habe einen Hund
🇺🇸 I have a dog.
🇩🇪 Ich möchte eine Cola
🇺🇸 I would like a cola
🇩🇪 Ich nehme einen Hamburger.
🇺🇸 I’ll have a hamburger.
Some common German accusative verbs are listed in Table 1.5:
| suchen | to search |
| finden | to find |
| kaufen | to buy |
| lesen | to read |
| besuchen | to visit |
| bestellen | to order |
| trinken | to drink |
| essen | to eat |
6. Objects in the accusative case can be a person (Person) or a thing (Sache), and they can be either singular or plural.
🇩🇪 Thomas sieht KoJo.
🇺🇸 Thomas sees KoJo.
🇩🇪 Thomas sieht einen Papagei.
🇺🇸 Thomas sees a parrot.
🇩🇪 Thomas sieht seinen Papagei.
🇺🇸 Thomas sees his parrot.
🇩🇪 Thomas sieht ihn.
🇺🇸 Thomas sees him.
Mastering the accusative case is essential for effective communication in German. With practice, identifying and using the accusative case will become second nature, enabling you to construct sentences with confidence and precision.