All About German Accusative Case – Simply explained / Der Akkusativ

In this lesson, you will learn all about German accusative case, what the accusative is, how it is used and declined.

CONTENTS

What is the Accusative case in German?
Declension – What is important to know
Little things that make learning easier
Accusative and Nominative – Similarities and Differences
Object in the accusative case
Prepositions with the accusative
Prepositions with the accusative
Pronouns in the accusative case

What is the Accusative case in German?

The accusative case marks the direct object of transitive verbs, which is its primary function. Transitive verbs are those that take a direct object (known as the accusative object), typically representing a person or thing that is directly affected by the action of the verb.

For example:

Ich lese einen Text.   
Was liest er? – Einen Text.
Er fotografiert seine Kinder.
Wen fotografiert er? – Seine Kinder.

An accusative noun phrase can be used adverbially to indicate time

In these examples, using the accusative case without a preposition can show a time period that’s completely in the past, present, or future. It usually translates to the English phrase that includes word “for.” You can also follow a noun phrase in the accusative with “lang,” or if you want to really emphasize the duration, you can use “über” or “hindurch.”

For example:

Ich war einen Monat/drei Monate (lang) in London – I was in London for a month/for three months

Dort blieb sie viele Jahre (lang) –She stayed there for many years
Er lernteden ganzen Tag (lang/über) Mathe. –He learned mats the whole day/all day (long)
den ganzen Herbst (lang) – all fall, for the whole of the fall
den ganzen Winter hindurch/über – throughout the winter
mein ganzes Leben (lang) – all mylife/for my whole life

A specific time or period usually corresponds to phrases without prepositions in English.

For example:

jeden Tag/jede Woche – every day/every week,
alle vierzehnTage/alle paar Jahre – every two weeks/every few years
jede halbe Stunde – every half hour
einen Augenblick zuvor – a moment before
nächsten /kommenden Montag/nächste /kommende Woche – next Monday/next week
letzten /vorigen / vergangenen Freitag – last Friday
dieses Jahr – this year
2018 – in 2018

Conventional greetings and wishes are expressed in the accusative case. This is especially evident with masculine nouns.

For example:
Guten Morgen!/Tag!/Abend! – Good morning/day/evening!
Gute Nacht! – Good night!
Guten Ruth (ins neue Jahr)! – Happy New Year!
Schönen Sonntag! – Have a nice Sunday!
Besten Dank! – Thank you very much!
Herzlichen Glückwunsch! – Congratulations!
Viel Vergnügen! – Have a good time!
Gute Besserung! – Get well soon!
Gute / Angenehme Reise! – Have a good/pleasant journey!

The accusative case is used as these phases are in practice the direct objects of a verb like wünschen, which is understood.

Some verbs require only an object in the accusative case, such as the verbs haben, fotografieren, sehen, … But there are also verbs that require both an object in the dative case and an object in the accusative case.

For example:
Ich brauche ein Buch. – I need a book.
Ich habe einen Bruder. – I have a brother.
Sie fotografiert ihn. – She takes his picture.
Ich gebe ihm ein Buch. – I give him a book.
Er zeigt uns die Stadt. – He shows us the city.

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Grammar Contents

Declension – What is important to know

In the table you can see nouns in the accusative case.

Little things that make learning easier

The indefinite article, possessive pronouns and the negation kein have the same ending in the accusative case as the definite article.

einen alten Bild
keinen neuen Film
meinen lieben Tante

Adjectives in the accusative case after the definite article and the indefinite article receive an endint–(e)n.

den schönen alten Bild
den neuen Film

If there is no article in front of the adjective, then the adjective takes an ending of the definite article in the accusative case.

seinen Vater
kalten Suppe

Accusative and Nominative – Similarities and Differences

When you first start learning German, you’ll probably notice that a lot of focus is put on comparing the accusative and nominative cases. That’s because they’re pretty much the same, except for how the masculine accusative looks. This similarity can really help you out, making it easier to pick up all the tricky stuff that might feel overwhelming at first.

Object in the accusative case

It is the verb that determines the case. How many obligatory complements the sentence will have depends on the verb and its valence. So thera are:

object in the accusative case, but there can be several objects in the sentence, such as:
object in the dative case
genitive object
prepositional object
pronominal adverb

The infinitive can also be classified here, as a complement to modal and similar verbs, such as: gehen, bleiben, lernen; infinitive with zu and object sentences.

The direct object is the part of the sentence governed by the transitive verb. It is not obligatory, it can be replaced with a preposition that requires a nominative, dative or genitive case.

The action is performed on the direct object, that’s why we ask questions with WHO? or WHAT? (WEN? or WAS?)
For example:
Er schreibt einen Brief. Was schreibt er?  – Einen Brief.
Sie trifft ihren Freund. Wen trifft sie? – Ihren Freund.

With the question word wen/ who we ask a question about a living being.
With the question word was/ what we ask a question about things.

Prepositions with the accusative

Prepositions with the accusative: um, durch, ohne, bis, für i  gegen.

When the verb stands with a preposition, it is not the verb that determines the case, but the preposition, e.g.:

Sie ist ohne ihren Freund ins Kino gegangen.
Ich schäme mich für dich.
Er beneidet sie um ihren Erfolg.

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Grammar Contents

Articles and adjectives in the accusative case

Pronounsin the accusative case

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