A Deep Dive into the 4 Cases in the German Language (2/2): der Akkusativ & der Dativ
Willkommen to the second & final part of this series of articles on the cases in German. If you haven’t already, I recommend reading part one here, which covers the Nominative & Genitive cases.
In this article, I will explain the Accusative and the Dative cases, while using examples with each of the three genders and the plural form to demonstrate their usage. The Dative case is pretty much half the reason why German grammar is so complex, but hopefully I can save you from some head-banging with my explanation.
To fully comprehend the meaning of the examples, you should have a basic understanding of the definite, indefinite, & possessive articles, as well as verb conjugations. Let’s get started!
Der Akkusativ / Der Wenfall | The Accusative
This case can be compared to the English concept of a Direct Object, an Object that is directly receiving the action of the sentence. It is also used after certain prepositions, as we well see soon.
The definite, indefinite, possessive, & personal pronouns of the three genders take the following forms, respectively.
Contractions
- für das = fürs (for the…) neutral
- durch das = durchs (through the…) neutral
- um das = ums (around the…) neutral
- in das = ins (into the…) neutral
Some common accusative prepositions: bis, für, auf, an, durch, entlang, für, gegen, ohne, um(…herum), über, unter
Masculine Singular
Accusative masculine definite & indefinite articles: den, diesen, welchen, jenen; einen
Examples with Prepositions:
Wir wollten um den LKW herumfahren. | We wanted to pass (drive around) the semitruck. (‘LKW’ = ‘Lastkraftwagen’)
Durch welchen Tunnel müssen wir gehen rennen? | Through which tunnel do we have to run?
Jake hat gegen einen sehr harten Gegner geboxt. | Jake boxed against a very tough opponent.
Examples without Prepositions:
Wir haben den Adler gesichtet!| We saw (sighted) the eagle!
Mal sehen, wer diesen Typ beschlagen kann. | We’ll see who can beat (defeat) this guy.
Jenen Rock hat sie bereits anprobiert. | She already tried on that skirt.
Welchen Film sollten wir zusammen schauen? | Which movie should we watch together?
Er möchte nur einen Kaffee, bitte. | He would like just one coffee, please.
Accusative masculine singular possessive articles: meinen, deinen, seinen/ihren, unseren, euren, Ihren/ihren
Sie braucht ein Geschenk für ihren Freund. | She needs a gift for her boyfriend.
Hast du unseren vermissten Hund gefunden? | Have you found our missing dog?
Feminine Singular
Accusative definite & indefinite articles: die, diese, welche, jene; eine
Examples with Prepositions:
Ohne die Katzen hat sich die alte Frau einsam gefühlt. | Without the cats, the old woman felt lonely.
Für eine Nacht haben wir uns unsterblich gefühlt. | For one/a night, we felt immortal.
Examples without Prepositions:
Ich will die Übung machen. | I want to do the exercise.
Wollen Sie diese abgestandene Kartoffel essen? | Do you (formal) want to eat this stale potato?
Welche Welpe findest du am süßesten? | Which puppy do you think is the cutest?
Katja hat jene Bücherreihe sehr interessant gefunden. | Katja thought that book series was very interesting.
Erich hat eine Heuschrecke gegessen! | Erich ate a grasshopper!
Accusative feminine singular possessive articles: meine, deine, seine/ihre, unsere, eure, Ihre/ihre
Hans hegt gerade einen Groll gegen eure Mutter. | Hans is holding a grudge against your (plural) mother.
Die Ameisenfresser hat Ihre Ameise gefressen. | The anteater ate your (formal) ant.
Neutral Singular
Accusative definite & indefinite articles: das, dieses, welches, jenes; ein
Examples with Prepositions:
Wir sind durch das/durchs Dorf gebummelt. | We bummed around the village.
Gegen jenes Team hatten wir keine Chance. | Against that team, we had no chance.
Examples without Prepositions:
Das Buch haben wir noch nie gelesen. | We haven’t read the/that book yet.
Die Gruppe hat dieses Projekt endlich fertiggestellt. | The group finally finished this project.
Auf welches Pferd hat er gewettet? | Which horse did he bet on?
Die Besatzung hat jenes Schiff gesegelt. | The crew sailed that ship.
Es wäre schön, ein privates Flugzeug zu haben. | It would be nice to have a private airplane.
Accusative neutral singular possessive articles: mein, dein, sein/ihr, unser, euer, Ihr/ihr
Ich brauche doch eine Tasse für mein Getränk. | I need a cup for my drink.
Euer Gebäude haben wir nicht erkannt. | We didn’t recognize your (plural) building.
Plural (all genders)
Accusative plural definite articles: die, diese, welche, jene
Examples with Prepositions:
Ich habe die leeren Flaschen gegen die Wand geschmissen. | I threw the empty bottles against the wall.
Ob wir gewinnen werden kommt teilweise auf die Schiris an. | Whether or not we (will) win depends partially on the referees. (‘Schiris’ is short for ‘Schiedsrichter’)
Examples without Prepositions:
Der Kellner hat die Tassen versehentlich fallen lassen. | The waiter accidentally dropped the cups.
Leider hat der Kellner diese gläsernen Tassen fallen lassen. | Unfortunately, the waiter dropped these glass cups.
Welche Tassen hat er fallen lassen? | Which cups did he drop?
Wir haben gespannt hingeguckt, als er jene Tassen fallen lassen hat. | We watched tensely as dropped those cups.
Accusative plural indefinite articles: manche, einige
Example with Preposition:
Um eventuell erfolgreich zu sein muss man durch einige/manche Täler durchqueren. | To eventually be successful, you have to cross through some valleys.
Examples without Prepositions:
Die Wölfe haben wahrscheinlich manche Elche gerochen.| The wolves have probably smelled some elk.
Die Mehrheit der Gefragten besitzt einige Teller. | The majority of those surveyed/asked own some plates.
Accusative plural possessive articles:
meine, deine, seine / ihre, unsere, eure, Ihre / ihre
Example with Preposition:
Durch meine Beispiele kann man vieles lernen. | Through my examples, one can learn a lot.
Example without Preposition:
Habt ihr seine entkommenen Schlangen gesehen? | Have you (plural) seen his escaped snakes?
Personal Pronouns in the Accusative
mich, dich, ihn/es/sie, uns, euch, Sie/sie
Example with Preposition:
Das alles habe ich doch extra für euch gemacht!| I did that all especially for you (plural)!
Examples with Personal Pronouns as Direct Objects:
Ich werde dich nie vergessen. | I will never forget you.
Ich habe sie seit acht Jahren nicht gesehen! | I haven’t seen them/her in eight years!
A Couple Exceptions
Sometimes, -en or -n must be added to the end of the corresponding noun in the accusative case. Although this is often the case with masculine & neutral nouns that end with -e in the nominative case, there are no rules; they must simply be memorized. Here are some examples:
Hoffentlich haben wir die Gelegenheit, den Präsidenten kennenzulernen. | Hopefully, we (will) have the chance to meet the President. (singular form in the nominative is ‘der Präsident’)
Ich mag jenen Gedanken nicht. | I don’t like that thought. (singular form in the nominative is ‘der Gedanke’)
Das Kleinkind wollte den Affen mit Beeren füttern. | The toddler wanted to feed the monkey berries. (singular form in the nominative is ‘der Affe’)
Der Elefant kämpft gerade gegen den Löwen. | The elephant is fighting against the lion. (singular form in the nominative is ‘der Löwe’)
Steve hat einen Bären erschossen. | Steve shot a bear. (singular form in the nominative is ‘der Bär’)
Mayra spielt dieses Videospiel lieber gegen einen anderen Menschen. | Mayra would rather play this video game against another person. (singular form in the nominative is ‘der Mensch’)
Der Dativ / Der Wemfall | The Dative
The Dative case can be compared to Indirect Objects in English, so in cases where the object is the indirect receiver of the action, and are also used after certain prepositions.
Contractions
- in dem = im (in the…) masculine/neutral
- zu dem = zum (to the…) masculine/neutral
- zu der = zur (to the…) feminine
- von dem = vom (from the…) masculine/neutral
- bei dem = beim (with/close to/at the…) masculine/neutral
- vor dem = vorm (in front of/before…the) masculine/neutral
Some common dative prepositions: aus, auf, außer, bei, mit, nach, neben, seit, von, zu, über, unter
Masculine, Neutral Singular
Dative definite & indefinite articles: dem, diesem, welchem, jenem; einem
In dem / Im Haus gibt es zwei Badezimmer. | In the house, there are two bathrooms.
Viele berühmte Leute kommen aus diesem Land. | Many famous people come from this country.
Aus welchem Stoff werden Schuhe hergestellt? | From which material are shoes made?
Er lebt gerade in jenem Bundesland. | He’s living in that federal state (of Germany).
Die Lampe steht neben einem Fenster. | The lamp stands next to a window.
Dative possessive articles: meinem, deinem, seinem/ihrem, unserem, eurem, Ihrem/ihrem
Sollten wir zu seinem Café fahren? | Should we drive to his café?
Feminine Singular
Dative definite & indefinite articles: der, dieser, welcher, jener; einer
Vor der Tür liegt eine Fußmatte. | In front of the door lies a mat.
Nach dieser Stunde sollten wir abreisen. | After this hour, we should depart.
Hinter welcher Säule wartest du auf uns? | Behind which column are you waiting/will you wait for us?
Gegenüber jener Straße befindet sich ein Schloss. | Across from that street, there is a castle.
In einer Schule sind oft viele Klassenzimmer. | In a school, there are often lots of classrooms.
Plural (all genders)
In the dative plural, prepositions are followed by an article ending with -n. The corresponding plural noun must also end with -n, although exceptions are made for words which originate from a different language and don’t have traditional German endings, like ‘restaurant’ (see last example below).
Dative definite & indefinite articles: den, diesen, welchen, jenen; einigen, manchen
Zu diesen Zeiten haben viele Burgen existiert. | At these times, many fortresses existed.
Aus welchen Ländern stammen sie? | Which countries do they originate/come from?
An einigen Orten in meiner Stadt sind Tacos zum Verspeisen. | In some places in my city, there are tacos to eat. (‘zum + Capitalized Verb’ = ‘to + Verb’ in English. Here, it means ‘to eat’. It can also be written as ‘zu + Uncapitalized Verb)
In manchen Restaurants sind es Schokoladenbrunnen. | In some restaurants, there are chocolate fountains.
Articles without Prepositions in the Dative
In situations like this, it can often be translated as ‘to something’ or ‘for something’ in English.
Masculine, Neutral Singular
Definite, indefinite articles: dem, diesem, jenem; einem
Dem Deutschen Volke. | To the German people.
*This is the famous inscription on the Reichstag building in Berlin, meaning it was dedicated to the German people. ‘People’ is the Germanic population as a whole, not to be understood as the plural of ‘person’ in this case. In the Dative, it is common that some singular words, Volk in this case, end with -e, but this is not necessary.
Ein Skorpion kann einem Menschen tödlich sein. | A scorpion can be lethal to humans.
Feminine Singular
Definite, indefinite articles: der, dieser, welcher, jener; einer
Jener Frau fällt es leicht, als Feuerwehrfrau zu arbeiten. | It’s easy for that woman to work as a firefighter. (lit. ‘It falls to that woman…’
Einer Schildkröte fällt es schwer, geschwind zu kriechen. | It’s difficult for a turtle to crawl/creep quickly. (lit. ‘It falls to a turtle difficult…’)
Plural (all genders)
Definite, indefinite articles: den, diesen, welchen, jenen; einigen, manchen
Den Studenten war heiß, da die Klimaanlage kaputt war. | The (university) students were hot because the AC was broken. (lit. ‘To the students was hot…’)
Einigen Tigern war das Leben im Tierpark schwer. | Life was difficult for some tigers in the zoo.
Personal Pronouns in the Dative
mir, dir, ihm/ihr, uns, euch, Ihnen/ihnen
Without preposition (it’s implied):
Schreib ihnen bitte einen Brief! | Please write them a letter!
*If you want to use a preposition in the case above, it would be ‘an’, and the sentence would convert to the accusative, so, ‘Schreib einen Brief an sie, bitte!’
Mir ist kalt. | I am cold. (lit. ‘To me it is cold.’ To say ‘Ich bin kalt.’ has a sexual connotation.)
Danke Ihnen für Ihre Gastfreundlichkeit. | Thank you (formal) for your hospitality.
Es war ihm egal. | He didn’t care/mind.
With preposition:
Bleib bei mir. | Stay with me.
Kommt zu uns herüber. | Come over to us. (Addressing more than one ‘you’ informally)
Ich reise mit euch für einige Tage. | I (will) travel with you (plural) for a few days.
To read more about prepositions work in the Dative and the Accusative, see the following links:
Das ist alles, was ich momentan dazu zum Schreiben habe. If you have any comments or questions, please let me hear them. In the near future, I may write a couple follow-up articles to these past two, so keep an eye out for those, if you’re interested.
Danke sehr fürs Lesen!
