Cases: nominative, accusative and dative
What each case does and how it changes der, ein and kein: den, dem, einen, einem. The genitive to recognise at Higher.
Learn
Cases: nominative, accusative and dative, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know what the three cases do
The nominative is the subject, who does the action: Der Hund spielt (the dog is playing). The accusative is the direct object, what the action is done to: Ich sehe den Hund (I see the dog). The dative is the indirect object, who something is given or said to: Ich gebe dem Hund Wasser (I give the dog water). Prepositions also take a case.
Learn the definite article in each case
Nominative der, die, das, die; accusative den, die, das, die; dative dem, der, dem, den. Only the masculine changes in the accusative: der Tisch becomes den Tisch. In the dative, every gender changes.
Learn ein and kein in each case
Nominative ein, eine, ein; accusative einen, eine, ein; dative einem, einer, einem. Kein (no, not a) follows ein and also has a plural: keine (nominative and accusative), keinen (dative). Ich habe keinen Bruder.
Use the accusative after es gibt and most verbs
What you have, see, buy or like is the direct object: Ich habe einen Hund, Es gibt einen Park, Ich kaufe den Rock.
Use the dative for the person you give or say something to
With geben, schenken, schicken, zeigen and erklären, the person receiving is in the dative: Ich schenke meiner Mutter Blumen. Some verbs take only a dative: helfen, danken, gefallen, gehören: Ich helfe dem Mann.
Recognise the genitiveHigher only
The genitive shows possession, like English of or 's: das Auto des Mannes (the man's car), die Farbe der Tür. Trotz and wegen can take it: wegen des Wetters. At GCSE you need to understand it when you read or hear it, not to use it yourself.
Cases: nominative, accusative and dative key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Case
- The form a noun, article or pronoun takes to show its job in the sentence: nominative, accusative, dative or genitive.
- Nominative
- The case of the subject, as in Der Lehrer ist nett.
- Accusative
- The case of the direct object, as in Ich kenne den Lehrer.
- Dative
- The case of the indirect object, as in Ich gebe dem Lehrer das Heft.
- Genitive
- The case of possession, for reading and listening at Higher: das Haus meines Vaters.
- Direct object
- The person or thing an action is done to: in Ich esse einen Kuchen, the cake.
- Indirect object
- The person something is given, shown or said to: in Ich gebe dem Kind ein Eis, the child.
Common mistakes in Cases: nominative, accusative and dative
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Leaving a masculine object in the nominative, as in Ich habe ein Bruder.
A masculine direct object is accusative: Ich habe einen Bruder.
Using the accusative after helfen, as in Ich helfe den Mann.
Helfen takes the dative: Ich helfe dem Mann.
Forgetting that the feminine dative is der, as in mit die Freundin.
Feminine dative: der, einer, meiner: mit der Freundin.
Changing a subject after the verb, as in Heute spielt den Junge.
The subject stays nominative wherever it stands: Heute spielt der Junge.
Practice
Try a Cases: nominative, accusative and dative question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which word completes the sentence? Ich helfe ___ Frau mit dem Koffer. (I'm helping the woman with the suitcase.)
- die
- der
- den
- dem
Show the answer and the working
Answer: der
Helfen always takes the dative, and Frau is feminine, so 'the' is der: Ich helfe der Frau mit dem Koffer.
- The person you help goes in the dative after helfen.
- Frau is feminine.
- Feminine dative 'the' is der: Ich helfe der Frau mit dem Koffer.