Cases

What are cases?

A case refers to the role a noun or a pronoun plays in a particular sentence or clause. There are four main functions and each one can be linked to a specific case in German:

Case	Function of noun/pronoun	Example
Nom.	The noun/pronoun is the subject of the sentence, i.e. the ‘agent’ of what is happening.	Der Schüler kauft einen Computer. ‘The pupil buys a computer’.
Acc.	It is the direct object of a sentence, i.e. the ‘receiver’ of the action.	Die Lehrerin lobt den Schüler. ‘The teacher praises the pupil ’.
Dat.	It is the indirect object, an additional object to whom/which the action is done.	Er schenkt ihr eine DVD. ‘He gives her a DVD’.
Gen.	It indicates possession or ownership between two nouns.	Das ist das Auto meines Bruders. ‘This is my brother’s car’.

The nominative case

Indicating the subject

As mentioned before, the most important role of the nominative case is to indicate the subject in a sentence. The subject directs the action and can be a person, thing or idea, either in the singular or in the plural:

Der Junge spielt heute allein.

The boy is playing alone today.

Die Zeiten sind hart.

These are hard times.

A good way of identifying the subject is to ask:
Who or what is doing the action?
– Who is playing alone?

® The boy.

The nominative after verbs

The nominative is also used after the verbs sein ‘to be’, werden ‘to become’ and scheinen ‘to seem’:

Heinz war immer ein guter Vater.

Heinz was always a good father.

Das Mädchen wird sicher eine berühmte Sängerin werden.

The girl will surely become a famous singer.

Er scheint ein fähiger Trainer zu sein.

He seems to be a capable coach.

Nominative case endings

Here is an overview of the most common determiners in the nominative:

                       Masculine    Feminine Neuter          Plural

Definite article     der   Mann      die     Tochter      das   Kind          die      Leute 

Demonstrative      dieser Mann   diese  Tochter     dieses Kind      diese   Leute 

Indefinite article     ein   Mann       eine    Tochter       ein    Kind           –       Leute 

Possessive            mein   Mann     meine Tochter       mein   Kind       meine Leute

The accusative case

Marking the direct object

The accusative case in German marks the direct object in a sentence. The direct object is the person or thing on the receiving end of the action:

Sie füttert das Baby.

She feeds the baby.

Helga wäscht den Wagen.

Helga washes the car.

In order to identify the direct object, you could ask the question:
At who/m or what is the action directed?
® The baby.

Accusative case endings
The endings of the most common determiners in the accusative are iden- tical with those in the nominative, apart from the masculine forms, which end in -en:

                        Masculine    Feminine Neuter Plural

Definite article      den      Mann    die    Tochter     das      Kind   die    Leute 

Demonstrative    diesen  Mann   diese  Tochter    dieses  Kind   diese  Leute 

Indefinite article   einen     Mann    eine    Tochter    ein       Kind     –         Leute 

Possessive            meinen Mann    meine Tochter    mein    Kind    meine  Leute

The dative case

Indicating the indirect object

In addition to a direct object, many verbs in German can take a further object, the indirect object. The indirect object of a sentence is always in the dative case:

Wir kauften dem Kind einen großen Luftballon.

We bought the child a big balloon.

Er macht der Frau einen Vorschlag.

He puts a preposition to the woman.

An easy way to identify the indirect object of a sentence is to ask:

To who/m or what is the action being done?
® The child.
Note that the indirect object in English is often indicated by the prepo- sition ‘to’ as shown in the above example.

Dative case endings

Here is an overview of the most common determiners in the dative: Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

Definite art.   dem        Mann    der      Tochter    dem       Kind    den      Kindern 

Demonstr.      diesem  Mann   dieser  Tochter    diesem  Kind   diesen  Kindern 

Indefinite art.  einem     Mann    einer     Tochter   einem    Kind    –           Kindern

Possess.         meinem  Mann    meiner Tochter   meinem  Kind   meinen Kindern

Typical endings for determiners in the dative are:
-em with masculine and neuter nouns
-er with feminine nouns and
-en with nouns in the plural.

Don’t forget to add an extra -(e)n to the plural form of the noun itself whenever this is possible.

The genitive case

Indicating possession

The genitive case refers to the idea of possession or belonging, corres- ponding to the English apostrophe s (’s) ending or the preposition of :

Das Auto meines Vaters steht dort drüben.

My father’s car is over there.

Wir beginnen mit dem schwierigsten Teil der Übersetzung.

We begin with the most difficult part of the translation.

A useful way of recognising the genitive in a sentence is to ask :
Whose . . . is it /are they?

® My Father's

Genitive case endings

Here is an overview of the typical endings for common determiners and nouns in the genitive:
                     Masculine     Feminine          Neuter             Plural

Definite art.      des    Mannes    der    Tochter        des       Kindes     der       Leute 

Demonstr.      dieses  Mannes  dieser  Tochter     dieses   Kindes    dieser   Leute 

Indefinite art.   eines     Mannes  einer    Tochter     eines     Kindes     –            Leute 

Possess.          meines  Mannes  meiner Tochter    meines  Kindes     meiner Leute

Note that in the genitive:
• masculine and neuter nouns of one syllable usually take the ending
        -es: des Mannes, des Kindes;
• nouns  with  two  or  more  syllables  normally  only  add  an  -s:  meines Bruders, des          Mittagessens;
• feminine and plural nouns don’t take any endings.

Using the dative as an alternative

Although the genitive can still be found in modern German – especially in a more formal context – its use is decreasing. In spoken and sometimes also in written German, the genitive is often replaced with an alternative dative structure:

Das ist die Idee meines Bruders. ®

Das ist die Idee von meinem Bruder.

That is my brother’s idea.

 That is the idea of my brother.