The “classic” use of the accusative caseNo definition set for caseLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. in German is to mark the direct object: the noun or pronoun in a sentence that is directly affected by the action of the verb. For example:
accusative case (direct object)
Ich klage dich an! Du hast meinen goldenen Becher gestohlen, gemeiner Dieb!
I accuse you! You stole my golden goblet, dastardly thief!
However, the German accusative case also has a few other uses. Most importantly, this case is used after accusative prepositionsNo definition set for prepositionsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. like durch(through), für(for), or gegen(against).
The accusative is one of the four cases in German — special forms used to show the grammatical roles that different nounsNo definition set for nounsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. play in a sentence. In this post, we’ll talk about how to form this case, when to use it, and discuss some word order rules that you are likely to encounter when you use this case. Ready to dive in? Let’s have a look!
What is the accusative case in German?
The accusative case is one of the four cases in German: nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive. Each case represents a special form given to the words in noun phrasesNo definition set for noun phrasesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. that perform some particular grammatical function in a sentence.
As we mentioned above, the accusative case is mostly used for direct objects and for the objects of accusative prepositions, but the other cases have other functions. For example:
nominative (subject)dative (indirect object)accusative (direct object)genitive (possessor)
Der Geist gibt dem Mädchen den goldenen Becher seines Vaters.
The ghost gives the girl the golden goblet of his father.
The case of a noun phrase affects not only the form of the noun or pronoun itself, but also all the words that go along with it, including articlesNo definition set for articlesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., adjectivesNo definition set for adjectivesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., and other noun-modifying words. Therefore all of these different types of words may have special accusative forms.
To learn more about the other German cases, we suggest you check out our post on the German case system.
How to form the accusative case in German?
In German, pronouns, articles, adjectives, and other noun-modifying words can have accusative forms. In this section, we’ll introduce you to what these different kinds of words look like in the accusative case.
Luckily, in German, nouns do not have a special accusative form! An accusative noun will look just like the dictionary form. Therefore, you’ll just need to make sure you’re using the correct forms of pronouns and modifying words. Let’s have a look at some of the most important ones!
Accusative articles (and other words that share their pattern)
The following tables provide the German articles in the accusative case, contrasted with the nominative form (dictionary form) in each genderNo definition set for genderLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.:
As you can see, the nominative and accusative articles are only different before masculine singular nouns!
In our post on German definite articles we mentioned that you can use the NESE portion of the mnemonic RESE-NESE-MRMN-SRSR to remember the endings of the accusative articles: den, die, das, die.
This mnemonic will work for the accusative endings of some other types of words as well. For example you can use it for:
Here are some examples. Notice that the modifying words all end with -en before a masculine noun!
accusative case
Welchen Becher sucht der Geist?
Which goblet is the ghost looking for?
Er sucht diesen Becher dort, den Sir Engelhardt gestohlen hat.
He is looking for this goblet over there that Sir Engelhardt stole.
Siehst du meinen Becher? → Nein, ich sehe keinen Becher hier.
Do you see my goblet? → No, I see no goblet here
The NESE mnemonic can even help you remember the endings for the “he/she/it/they” pronouns, as we’ll see below!
Accusative personal pronouns
In German, the accusative personal pronouns differ from the nominative (or subject) pronouns in several instances, but not all:
| ich | mich | |
| du | dich | |
| ersiees | ihnsiees | |
| wir | uns | |
| ihr | euch | |
| sie | sie | |
| Sie | Sie | |
⤷ TIPYour old acquaintance NESE can also help you remember the accusative forms of 3rd person pronouns: the endings of ihn, sie, es and plural sie form NESE, as well. Mind blown! 😮
Accusative adjectives
The forms of German adjectives depend somewhat on whether or not they follow an article, and on which article they follow:
If there is no article preceding the adjective, add an adjective ending that reflects the ending a definite article would have taken (the NESE endings, -en, -e, -es, -e):
accusative case
Sir Engelhart trinkt gern leckeren Saft.
Sir Engelhart likes to drink delicious juice.
If the accusative adjective follows an articleNo definition set for articleLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., use the table below:
-e | | accusative case Ich sehe die bleiche Frau und das kleine Mädchen. I see the pale woman and the little girl. |
-en | | accusative case Du brauchst einen silbernen Löffel, den goldenen Becher und die brennenden Kerzen. You need a silver spoon, a golden cup and the burning candles. |
-es | | accusative case Er hat ein großes Schloss. |
When to use the accusative case in German?
The German accusative case is used in two main cases: to mark the direct object of a sentence and to mark objects of certain prepositions. We also sometimes use this case for some time and measurement words.
Accusative case marking the direct object
The German accusative case is used to identify or mark the direct object of a sentence — the noun or pronoun that undergoes the action. For example:
direct object (accusative)
Der Geist nahm den silbernen Schild.
The ghost took the silver shield.
→ The shield undergoes the action.
Der Geist gibt dem Mädchen den goldenen Becher.
The ghost gives the girl the golden goblet.
→ Though the girl benefits from the action, only the goblet actually undergoes the action (it is moved from person-to-person) so only the goblet is the direct object.
Did you see how the modifying words associated with the noun (like den, silbernen, and golden) show the accusative case as well?
Accusative case marking the objects of prepositions
In addition to marking a direct object, the accusative case also marks the object of two types of prepositions: accusative prepositions and two-case prepositions.
What does it mean to be an object of a preposition? Easy! The object of a preposition is the noun phrase the preposition introduces. So, for example:
accusative prepositionobject of the preposition (accusative)
You’ll use the accusative case for the objects of prepositions belonging to two main groups:
Accusative prepositions → These are always used before the accusative case. The five most common accusative prepositions in German are: durch(through), für(for), ohne(without), um(around), and gegen(against).
accusative prepositionaccusative case
Der Geist schwebte durch den Park , sang Lieder für das Mädchen und kämpfte gegen den Ritter.
The ghost floated through the park, sang songs for the girl and fought against the knight.
Two-case prepositions → The objects of two-case prepositions are also marked in the accusative case only when they are used to describe a destination. This use of the accusative case is often called the accusative of destination.
Some common two-case prepositions are an(on; at), in(in) and auf(on; on top of), hinter(behind), neben(beside), über(over, above), unter(under), vor(in front of), and zwischen(between).
two-case prepositionaccusative case
Sir Engelhart rannte auf den Marktplatz und lief hinter die Kirche, aber der Geist fand gegen ihn.
Sir Engelhart ran onto the market square and walked behind the church, but the ghost found him.
→ Notice that the nouns are all destinations. (Also, did you see the direct object, ihn?)
Be careful! Two-case prepositions have their name for a reason: if they are used to describe locations, they use the dative case instead.
⤷ TIP To learn more about two-case prepositions and when to use them with dative vs. accusative, check out our entire post on
German two-case prepositions!
Accusative case for time expressions
Expressions of time like “next week,” “last Tuesday,” or “every winter” in German will always be in the accusative case.
In German, such expressions usually combine one of these words…
jede(every), diese(this), nächste(next), letzte(last)
…with a day of the week (e.g. Monday), time of day (e.g. evening), month (e.g. July), or season (e.g. summer).
For example:
accusative case
Jeden Abend schwebt der Geist zur Schlossbibliothek.
Every evening, the ghost floats to the castle library.
Letzten Montag gab er endlich den Becher zurück.
Last Monday, he finally returned the goblet.
Er bleibt diesen Sommer hier, aber nächsten Sommer fliegt der Geist in die Karibik.
He is staying here this summer, but next summer the ghost is flying to the Caribbean.
Accusative case for measurement
German expressions of measurement using units like Zentimeter(centimeter), Meter(meter), Gramm(gram) or Kilogramm(kilogram) are in the accusative case:
accusative case
Der goldene Fingerhut war nur einen Zentimeter hoch und einen Gramm schwer.
The golden thimble measured only one centimeter and weighed one gram.
lit. The golden thimble was only one centimeter high and one gram heavy.
You might look at the example above and be confused: are Zentimeter and Gramm not simply direct objects? Not in this case: the sentence uses a form of the verb sein(to be) and that verb — not being an action verb — is never followed by a direct object. Zentimeter and Gramm are in the accusative case by virtue of them being expressions of measurement.
Using the accusative in a sentence: some word order considerations
Another matter that is indirectly connected to the accusative case is the question of the placement of a direct object in relation to the indirect (or dative case) object. Follow this rule:
Place a direct object directly after an indirect object…
nominative (subject)dative (indirect object)accusative (direct object)
Sir Engelhart gibt dem Geist den Becher.
Sir Engelhart gives the goblet to the ghost.
…unless it is represented by a pronoun; then it needs to precede the indirect object:
nominative (subject)accusative (direct object)dative (indirect object)
Sir Engelhart gibt ihn dem Geist.
Sir Engelhart gives it to the ghost.
Summary
Now you’ve been thoroughly introduced to the accusative case in German! How does it feel? Here are the most important take-aways:
The accusative case is used mostly for direct objects and for the objects of certain prepositions, but it is sometimes used in time and measurement phrases.
Nouns do not have special accusative forms, but the forms of pronouns, articles, adjectives and other descriptive words do. Pay particularly close attention to nominative singular forms, which change most often.
Want to practice what you’ve learned? Check out our German accusative case exercises. Maybe you’ll meet that ghost again? Happy learning!
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