All About German Nominative Case –The Most Important Facts / Der Nominativ

In this lesson, you will learn what the nominative case in Germanis, how to recognize it and use it, and what functions the nominative actually has in German.

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CONTENT

What is the nominative case in German?
Declension – What is important to know?
Small tips that make learning easier
Accusative and Nominative – Similarities and differences
The article and adjective in the nominative
Small tips that make learning easier

What is the nominative case in Germen?

The nominative case is the first of the four cases in German. It represents the subject of a sentence, which can be a person or a thing performing the action of the verb. The question words for the nominative case are WER? (WHO?) for people and WAS? (WHAT?) for things.

For example:

Die Kinder spielen im Park. – The children play in the park.
Wer spielt im Park? – Die Kinder. – Who plays in the park? – The children.
Der Schreibtisch steht neben dem Schrank. – The desk is next to the wardrobe.
Was steht neben dem Schrank?  – Der Schreibtisch. – What’s next to the cupboard? – The desk.

The nominative can be placed before or after the verbs sein, werden, and bleiben; however, when it appears after, it does not function as a subject.

Sie ist Lehrerin. 
Mein Freund heißt Michael.
Er wird Polizist.

Declension – What is important to know?

Small tips that make learning easier

The indefinite article, possessive pronouns, and the negation “kein” in the masculine and neuter genders do not take the ending of the definite article in the nominative case.

For example:

der Mann – ein Mann / ihr Mann / kein Mann
das Kind  – ein Kind  / sein Kind / kein Kind

Adjectives in the nominative case that follow the definite article take the suffix -e.

For example:

der kluge Mann
das brave Kind
die schöne Frau

Adjectives in the nominative case after the indefinite article take the ending of the definite article.

For example:

ein kluger Mann (der)
ein braves Kind (das)
eine schöne Frau (die)

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

For example:

kluger Mann  (der)
braves Kind (das)
schöne Frau (die)

The subject typically appears at the beginning of a sentence.

For example:
Er steht jeden Morgen um sieben Uhr auf.

We can move the subject after the verb if we want to emphasize something.

For example:
Jeden Morgen steht er um sieben Uhr auf.Every morning he gets up at seven o’clock.

The most important information here is that he stands up EVERY MORNING at seven o’clock.

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Grammar Contents

Accusative and Nominative – Similarities and differences

At the very beginning of learning German, a comparison is always made between the accusative and the nominative. And that’s because they are exactly the same except for the masculine accusative case. It can help you a lot in your studies.

NOMINATIVE : der Mann

The article and adjective in the nominative

Pronouns in the nominative

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