Learning the German cases is probably one of the most important things you need to understand when you are learning grammar for the German A1 level. Take your time when studying this. This will help you pass the German A1 exam.
What is a case?
A case is a specific function of the word/words in a sentence. Will the word/words do the action? Will it be directly or indirectly affected by it? Or will it express possession? Here are the four German cases.
Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
It is important to note that the spelling of the noun and article (der, die and das) changes. Let us look at the examples below to make sense of all of these.
der Apfel (apple)
1. Nominative
Der Apfel ist lecker.
The apple is delicious.
2. Genitive
Die Farbe des Apfels ist rot.
The color of the apple is red.
3. Dative
Die Birne ist hinter dem Apfel.
The pear is behind the apple.
4. Accusative
Ich möchte den Apfel essen.
I want to eat an apple.
The Nominative (der Nominativ) case is the basic form of the word, just as it is found in the dictionary. The nominative case is used by the person/object doing the action. Do you remember what this is called? This is the subject. The subject of the sentence does the action. The subject is always in the nominative case.
The subject of each sentence is blue.
Der Mann ist klein.
The man is small.
Die Frau arbeitet.
The woman works/ is working.
Das Baby ist sehr süß.
The baby is very cute.
Mein Vater ist alt.
My father is old.
Meine Mama ist schön.
My mother is beautiful.
Mein Baby ist nicht hier.
My baby is not here.
GENITIVE CASE
The Genitive (der Genitiv) case is used to express possession. It answers the question "wessen?" (whose?). It is mostly seen in written German, that is why you need to be familiarized with it before taking the German A1 exam. Here are a couple of examples. Take note of how the spelling changes depending on the gender of the noun.
der Vater - father
Das Haus meines Vaters ist sehr groß.
My father's house is very big.
die Mutter - mother
Das Haus meiner Mutter ist sehr groß.
My mother's house is very big.
das Kind - child
Das Haus meines Kindes ist sehr groß.
My child's house is very big.
ACCUSATIVE CASE
The Accusative (der Akkusativ) case is used when someone (wen) or something (was) is affected by the action. For this, the spelling of the article (der, die, das) also changes.
der Mann - man
Die Frau trifft den Mann.
The woman is meeting the man.
In the sentence above, the man is affected by the action, so it is in the accusative case.
The person or object affected by the action is called the DIRECT OBJECT of the sentence.
der Baum - tree
Siehst du den Baum?
Do you see the tree?
der Hund - dog
Ich habe einen Hund.
I have a dog.
die Tochter - daughter
Er hat eine Tochter.
He has a daughter.
das Baby - baby
Sie haben ein Baby.
They have a baby.
das Buch - book
Du hast ein Buch.
You have a book.
Meine Freundin hat eine Tasche.
My girlfriend has a bag.
In the accusative case, only the spelling of the masculine article changes. The feminine articles (der, eine), neutral articles (das, ein) and the plural article (die) stay the same.
der becomes den
ein becomes einen
Here are more examples of sentences that show the direct object (accusative case) in bold blue font.
Maria hat ein Fahrrad.
Maria has a bike.
Mein Vater hat einen Laptop.
My father has a laptop.
Patrick sucht den Schlüssel.
Patrick is searching for the key.
Der Mann hat ein Auto.
The man has a car.
Mama trifft den Arzt im Krankenhaus.
Mama is meeting the doctor at the hospital.
DATIVE CASE
The Dative (der Dativ) case is used as the indirect object of the sentence. In contrast to the direct object (accusative case), the person or object that receives the result of the action is the indirect object. To make sense of this, look at the examples below. The direct object is in bold blue font and the indirect object is in the purple underlined font.
Ich kaufe dem Kind ein Brot.
I am buying bread for the kid.
I am buying the kid a bread.
Ich gebe meiner Frau eine Blume.
I am giving a flower to my wife.
I am giving my wife a flower.
Er gibt dem Kind ein Buch.
He is giving the kid a book.
He is giving a book to the kid.
In the examples above, you can see that the indirect object (dative case) answers the question "whom?".
Whom do I buy the bread for? The kid.
Whom do I give the flower to? My wife.
Whom do I give the book to? The kid.
Here are more examples. Familiarize yourself with the sentence structure, translations and new vocabulary.
Sie geben den Schülern Hausaufgaben.
They are giving homework to the students.
Wir kochen unserem Opa ein Gericht.
We are cooking a dish for our grandpa.
Ich kaufe den Kindern Äpfel.
I am buying apples for the kids.
As you have noticed from the examples, the article change are as follows:
der becomes dem
ein becomes einem
die becomes der
eine becomes einer
das becomes dem
ein becomes einem
The plural die becomes den.
In the next lesson, we will be learning how to buy and order food from shops and restaurants.
To go back to the lessons list, click here.
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