A1 Grammar · Unit 6 · Topic 12 of 30
Nominative vs Accusative
About 5 minutes · tables, common mistakes and practice with answers
In short
Ask "Wer oder was?" (Who or what?) to find the subject, which is nominative. Ask "Wen oder was?" (Whom or what?) to find the object, which is accusative. Only the masculine forms look different: der → den, ein → einen, er → ihn.
Nominative vs accusative is the first case choice you make in German. The nominative is the person or thing doing the action, and the accusative is the person or thing the action happens to. You use this in almost every sentence you say.
Nominative vs accusative: side-by-side table
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (Wer?) | der / ein / er | das / ein / es | die / eine / sie | die / (none) / sie |
| Accusative (Wen?) | den / einen / ihn | das / ein / es | die / eine / sie | die / (none) / sie |
The neuter, feminine and plural columns are identical. You only need to watch masculine nouns and the pronouns ich/mich, du/dich, er/ihn, wir/uns and ihr/euch.
Nominative case vs accusative case: the job in the sentence
- The nominative is the subject: Der Arzt kommt. (The doctor is coming.)
- The accusative is the direct object: Ich rufe den Arzt. (I'm calling the doctor.)
German word order is flexible, so the article tells you who does what. Den Hund sieht der Mann still means "The man sees the dog", because den marks the dog as the object.
Nominative and accusative examples
| Sentence | Nominative | Accusative |
|---|---|---|
| Der Lehrer erklärt den Satz. | der Lehrer | den Satz |
| Ich brauche einen Termin. | ich | einen Termin |
| Die Pflegerin misst den Blutdruck. | die Pflegerin | den Blutdruck |
| Das Kind isst ein Brötchen. | das Kind | ein Brötchen |
| Kennst du ihn? | du | ihn |
| Das ist mein Kollege. | das, mein Kollege | none (sein takes no object) |
The last sentence catches a lot of learners. After sein, werden, heißen and bleiben, both sides stay in the nominative.
Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ: adding the third case
When nominative and accusative feel easy, move on to the dative. Together the three cases cover nearly everything you say at A1 and A2. The dative marks the indirect object, which is usually the person who receives something. To find it, ask "Wem?" (To whom?).
Ich (Nom.) gebe dem Patienten (Dat.) das Medikament (Akk.). I give the patient the medicine.
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der / ein | das / ein | die / eine | die |
| Accusative | den / einen | das / ein | die / eine | die |
| Dative | dem / einem | dem / einem | der / einer | den (+ -n) |
For nominative vs accusative vs dative, remember the order: subject, direct object, indirect object.
Nominative vs accusative vs dative vs genitive: all four cases
Here are all four German cases together. The genitive shows possession ("whose") and mostly appears at B1 and in written German, so you can leave it for later.
| Case | Question | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plural | Job |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Wer? | der | das | die | die | Subject |
| Accusative | Wen? | den | das | die | die | Direct object |
| Dative | Wem? | dem | dem | der | den | Indirect object |
| Genitive | Wessen? | des | des | der | der | Possession |
Common Mistakes in Nominative vs Accusative
"Ich habe ein Hund." Wrong. Haben takes an accusative object: Ich habe einen Hund. "Das ist den Bahnhof." Wrong. After sein the noun stays nominative: Das ist der Bahnhof. "Den Kollege kommt." Wrong. The subject is always nominative, wherever it stands in the sentence: Der Kollege kommt.
Memory trick
Wer? does it (nominative). Wen? gets it (accusative). Then check if the noun is masculine: a masculine object gets an -n.
Practice
Nominative or accusative? Choose the right form.
- ___ Zug kommt um 8 Uhr. (der / den)
- Ich nehme ___ Zug um 8 Uhr. (der / den)
- Das ist ___ Computer. (mein / meinen)
- Wir besuchen ___ morgen. (er / ihn)
Show answers
Answers: Der (the train is the subject), den (the train is the object), mein (it stays nominative after sein), ihn (the accusative pronoun).
Nominative vs Accusative: frequently asked questions
The nominative is the subject, the one doing the action. The accusative is the direct object, the one the action happens to. In Der Mann kauft den Tisch, der Mann is nominative and den Tisch is accusative.
Ask "Wer?" for the subject and "Wen?" for the object, then check whether the noun is masculine. A masculine object gets an -n: der → den, ein → einen.
No. Word order is flexible, so you have to look at the article. That's why the difference between der and den matters so much.