Nominative Case

The nominative case identifies the subject of a sentence or a predicate nominative. The subject is the noun or pronoun that is carrying out the action of the verb in the sentence. For example:

Johann küsst Ingrid.                    Johann kisses Ingrid.                   The subject is Johann.

Wir finden das Geld.                    We find the money.                       The subject is wir.

A predicate nominative is the noun that follows a verb like sein (to be) or werden (to become). There is a method for determining whether a word is being used as a predicate nominative. If the positions of the subject of the sentence and the presumed predicate nominative of the sentence can be switched and still make sense, the noun that follows sein or werden is undoubtedly a predicate nominative. For example:

In dieser Schule ist ein Lehrer auch ein              In this school, a teacher is also a counselor.

Studienberater.

or

In dieser Schule ist ein Studienberater               In this school, a counselor is also a teacher.

auch ein Lehrer.

The nominative forms for the masculine, feminine, neuter, and plural are illustrated below with the definite article (der, die, das), indefinite article (ein, eine), and kein.

masculine           feminine          neuter          plural

der Junge               die Katze             das Pferd        die Kinder (boy, cat, horse, children)

ein Junge               eine Katze           ein Pferd         Kinder*

kein Junge            keine Katze         kein Pferd        keine Kinder

*The indefinite article does not exist in the plural. Using the plural noun alone derives the indefinite meaning.

Subject of the sentence and verbs

     When a nominative noun or pronoun is the subject of a sentence, it determines what kind of conjugational ending the verb needs. All nouns require either a singular or plural third-person verb ending, depending upon whether the noun is singular or plural. Third-person pronouns have the same verb endings as nouns. First- and second-person pronouns require their own conjugational endings. Some examples with the verbs kennen and sein in the present tense follow.

singular nouns

der Mann kennt                    der Mann ist                    the man knows, the man is

die Frau kennt                       die Frau ist                      the woman knows, the woman is

plural nouns

die Kinder kennen                die Kinder sind               the children know, the children are

die Leute kennen                  die Leute sind                  the people know, the people are

singular pronouns

first person                    ich kenne          ich bin          I know, I am

second person               du kennst          du bist     you know, you are

third person                    er kennt            er ist          he knows, he is

third person                  sie kennt           sie ist        she knows, she is

third person                   es kennt            es ist            it knows, it is

plural pronouns

first person                   wir kennen         wir sind     we know, we are

second person              ihr kennt            ihr seid     you know, you are

second person              Sie kennen        Sie sind     you know, you are

third person                   sie kennen         sie sind   they know, they are

As verbs change, the endings required for the nouns and pronouns stay, for the most part, the same.

der Mann kennt, der Mann singt, der Mann hat (sings, has)

die Leute kennen, die Leute warten, die Leute tun (wait, do)

ich kenne, ich halte, ich komme (hold, come)

du kennst, du willst, du machst (want, make)

er kennt, er sagt, er spricht (says, speaks)

sie kennt, sie trägt, sie versteht (carries, understands)

es kennt, es bleibt, es riecht (remains, smells)

wir kennen, wir hören, wir trinken (hear, drink)

ihr kennt, ihr lacht, ihr geht (laugh, go)

Sie kennen, Sie senden, Sie kaufen (send, buy)

sie kennen, sie weinen, sie laufen (cry, run)

Questions

When asking a question that can be answered with either ja or nein (yes or no), the subject of the sentence (the nominative) becomes the second element in the sentence. The conjugated verb precedes the subject.

Ist dein Vater wieder gesund?                      Is your father well again?

Ja, mein Vater ist wieder gesund.                Yes, my father is well again.

Wohnen Sie in Berlin?                                   Do you live in Berlin?

Nein, ich wohne in München.                      No, I live in Munich.

If the question begins with an interrogative word, the verb will again precede the subject.

Wann kommt der nächste Zug?                  When does the next train arrive?

Wie lange dauert der Film?                         How long does the movie last?

However, if the subject is the interrogative word wer or was, it will stand in front of the conjugated verb.

Wer hat diese Blumen gekauft?                  Who bought these flowers?

Was ist passiert?                                            What has happened?

The conjugated verb will also precede the subject when some element other than the subject begins the sentence. For example:

Heute fahren wir nach Goslar.                   We’re driving to Goslar today.

Als Martin in Amerika wohnte,                  When Martin lived in America, he didn’t speak any

sprach er kein Englisch. English.