German Noun Cases: Marking a Noun’s Role in a Sentence

In this post we’re going to unpack grammar around German noun cases. First we’ll define the cases and relate them to the language that you’re reading in, English. This will make clear what, exactly, a German noun case is. Next we’ll take a look at each case. We’ll define how to use each case with plenty of examples. Then we’ll look at key grammar for each case, including German definite and indefinite articles forms and which prepositions. Finally we’ll give you a few tips that you can use as you master German noun cases.

German nouns come in four cases, which mark their role in a sentence. Nouns themselves usually don’t change in German, but articles (der, die, das, ein, eine, kein…) and adjectives change form depending on case. German noun cases are central to German grammar; you literally cannot utter a sentence without running into this grammar. But there’s no need to panic. German noun cases are very systematic, and they’re not too difficult to get used to. You just need to take it step by step.

What is a Noun Case?

Nouns in every language can serve different grammatical roles in a sentence. Take these examples with the noun phrase the dog in English:

• The dog is napping on the sofa.
  The dog is the subject of the sentence.
• I pet the dog as he naps on the sofa.
  The dog is the direct object of the verb pet.
• I give the dog a treat.
  The dog is the indirect object of the verb give. (A treat is the direct object.)
• I am sitting with the dog on the sofa.
  The dog is the object of the preposition with.
• I pat the dog’s head.
  The dog’s is possessive, the ‘owner’ of the noun head.

In English, nouns don’t change form for case, with the exception of adding apostrophe-s in the possessive. The articles (the and a) and adjectives never change. But things are a bit different with pronouns: He sees the dog vs The dog see him. So English has noun cases; it just doesn’t make much of a fuss about them.

The Four German Noun Cases

There are four cases in German: nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive. Each one plays a particular grammatical role in a sentence. And each one uses particular forms of articles. Here’s a quick overview of each German noun case.

Nominative (Nominativ)

The nominative case marks the subject of the sentence. The subject is the noun that is performing the action of the verb.

• Der Mann isst einen Apfel.
  The man is eating an apple.
  Der Mann is the subject, so it’s in the nominative case.

Accusative (Akkusativ)

The accusative case marks the direct object of the sentence. The direct object is the noun that is directly receiving the action.

• Ich sehe den Mann.
  I see the man.
  Den Mann is the direct object, which receives the action of being seen.

Dative (Dativ)

The dative marks the indirect object of the sentence. The indirect object is the noun that benefits from the action.

• Die Frau gibt dem Mann ein Geschenk.
  The woman gives the man a gift.
  Dem Mann is the indirect object, receiving the gift.

Genitive (Genitiv)

The genitive is like the apostrophe-s possessive in English. It shows possession or relationships between nouns.

• Das Buch des Mannes liegt auf dem Tisch.
  The man’s book is lying on the table.
  Des Mannes indicates possession, meaning the book belongs to the man.

Apart from these sentence roles, German prepositions take objects in the accusative, dative, and sometimes the genitive. As you can see, most German nouns don’t change, with the exception of adding –(e)s in the genitive (der Mann becomes des Mannes). There are a few other exceptions that we’ll cover below. But definite and indefinate articles do change, and any adjectives that you use to describe nouns in different cases will take different endings as well. We’ll get into articles for each case below, but we’ll leave adjective endings for another post.

Nominative Case (Nominativ)

The nominative case is the “default” case that you’ll see in a dictionary or in a translation app. You use the nominative for the subject of a sentence, the person or thing performing the action. You also use it in “predicate nominative” constructions, which is simply when you identify something by using a noun after verbs like sein (to be), werden (to become), and bleiben (to remain).

German Definite Articles in the Nominative

Definite articles used in the nominative are der, die, das, and die (plural).

• Der Hund bellt.
  The dog barks.
• Die Frau arbeitet.
  The woman is working.
• Das Buch ist sehr interessant.
  The book is very interesting.
• Die Schüler sind im Klassenzimmer.
  The students are in the classroom.

German Indefinite Articles in the Nominative

Indefinite articles in the nominative are ein, eine, and ein.

• Das ist ein Tisch.
  That is a table.
• Ist das ein Handy oder ein Tablet?
  Is that a cell phone or a tablet?
• Berlin ist eine Stadt, und Deutschland ist ein Land.
  Berlin is a city, and Germany is a country.

There are no prepositions associated with the nominative case, because prepositions are always followed by one of the other cases in German.

Summary of the Nominative Case

Accusative Case (Akkusativ)

The accusative case marks the direct object, which is the person or thing directly affected by the action. The accusative also follows certain prepositions.

German Definite Articles in the Accusative

Definite articles used in the accusative are den, die, das, and die (plural). Notice that only the masculine singular is different from the nominative case.

• Sie kauft den Wein.
  She’s buying the wine.
• Die Schüler lieben die Lehrerin.
  The students love the teacher.
• Ich lese das Buch.
  I’m reading the book.
• Ich liebe die Hunde.
  I love the dogs.

German Indefinite Articles in the Accusative

Indefinite articles used in the accusative are einen, eine, and ein. Again, the only difference between the accusative and the nominative is with the masculine singular.

• Ich habe einen Hund und eine Katze.
  I have a dog and a cat.
• Das Kind liest ein Buch.
  The child is reading a book.

Masculine N-nouns

Some German masculine nouns take –(e)n in all forms but the nominative singular. Common examples of these so-called weak nouns or N-nouns are: der Junge (boy), der Student (student), der Mensch (human), der Nachbar (neighbor), der Soldat (soldier), der Herr (gentleman), der Name (name), der Bauer (farmer), der Kunde (customer), der Präsident (president), der Kollege (colleague). Compare these examples, first with a nominative noun and then with an accusative noun.

• Mein Nachbar ist nett. Ich habe einen Nachbarn.
  My neighbor is nice. I have a neighbor.
• Wer ist dieser Junge? Siehst du den Jungen?
  Who is that boy? Do you see the boy?

German Prepositions Followed by the Accusative

Some prepositions take objects in the accustive: durch (through), für (for), gegen (against), ohne (without), and um (around).

• Wir gehen durch einen Park.
  We walk through a park.
• Der Mann kauft einen Knochen für den Hund.
  The man buys a bone for the dog.

There are also “two-way prepositions” in German that take the accusative when they refer to motion or movement. The common ones are an (at, on), auf (onto), hinter (behind), in (into), neben (next to), über (over, above), unter (under, beneath), vor (in front of), and zwischen (between). When these prepositions mean movement or change of position, they take the accusative. (When they refer to location, they take the dative. We’ll come back to that.)

• Ich lege das Buch auf den Schreibtisch.
  I put/lay the book on the desk.
• Der Hund geht unter den Tisch.
  The dog goes under the table.
• Wir hängen das Bild an die Wand.
  We’re hanging the picture on the wall.

Summary of the Accusative Case

Accusative Prepositions: durch (through), für (for), gegen (against), ohne (without), um (around); when referring to movement or change of position: an (at, on), auf (onto), hinter (behind), in (into), neben (next to), über (over, above), unter (under, beneath), vor (in front of), zwischen (between).

Dative Case (Dativ)

The dative case marks the indirect object, which is the person or thing that benefits from or is affected by the action indirectly.   Certain verbs always take dative objects. Some of the most common are: antworten (to answer), helfen (to help), danken (to thank), folgen (to follow) gefallen (to please, to be pleasing to), glauben (to believe), verzeihen (to pardon), and gehören (to belong to).

German Definite Articles in the Dative

Definite articles used in the dative case are dem, der, dem, and den (plural).

• Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch.
  I give the man the book.
• Er hilft der Frau.
  He’s helping the woman.
• Der Junge glaubt dem Mädchen nicht.
  The boy doesn’t believe the girl.
• Wir schicken den Kollegen eine E-Mail.
  We’re sending the colleagues an email.

Dative Plural –n

Most nouns add an -n in the dative plural if they don’t already end in –n.

• Die Kinder haben Hunger. Ich gebe den Kindern etwas zu essen.
  The kids are hungry. I give the kids something to eat.
• Die Männer lügen. Wir glauben den Männern nicht.
  The men are lying. We don’t believe the men.

German Indefinite Articles in the Dative

Indefinite articles used in the dative are einem, einer, and einem.

• Ich schicke einem Freund eine Textnachricht.
  I’m sending a friend a text message.
• Diese Jacke gehört einer Frau.
  This jacket belongs to a woman.
• Der Junge folgt einem Hund.
  The boy is following a dog.

German Prepositions Followed by the Dative

Some prepositions take objects in the dative: aus (from, out of ), außer (except for, besides, apart from), bei (at, near, by), gegenüber (across from) mit (with, by means of), nach (after, to, according to), seit (since, for), von (from, of), zu (to).

• Wir fahren mit dem Auto.
  We drive. We go by car.
• Der Bär kam aus dem Wald.
  The bear came out of the woods.
• Das Kino liegt gegenüber dem Restaurant.
  The cinema is across from the restaurant.

The “two-way prepositions” are an (at, on), auf (on), hinter (behind), in (in), neben (next to), über (over, above), unter (under, beneath), vor (in front of), and zwischen (between). When these prepositions refer to static position, they take the dative.

• Das Buch liegt auf dem Schreibtisch.
  The book is lying on the desk.
• Der Hund schläft unter dem Tisch.
  The dog is sleeping under the table.
• Das Bild hängt an der Wand.
  The picture is hanging on the wall.
• Das Mädchen sitzt zwischen den Eltern.
  The girl is sitting between the parents.

Summary of the Dative Case

Dative Prepositions: aus (from, out of ), außer (except for, besides, apart from), bei (at, near, by), gegenüber (across from) mit (with, by means of), nach (after, to, according to), seit (since, for), von (from, of), zu (to); when referring to location or static position: an (at, on), auf (on), hinter (behind), in (in), neben (next to), über (over, above), unter (under, beneath), vor (in front of), zwischen (between).

Genitive Case (Genitiv)

The genitive case shows possession or a relationship between two nouns. It’s not as common in spoken German as it in written German, but you’ll certainly still come across it.

German Definite Articles in the Genitive

Definite articles used in the genitive case are des, der, des, and der (plural). You also add an –(e)s to masculine and neuter nouns.  Der Mann becomes des Mannes, and das Kind becomes des Kindes. Don’t add anything to feminine nouns: die Frau become der Frau.

• Das ist das Buch des Mannes.
  That is the man’s book.
• Der Freund der Frau ist nicht sehr nett.
  The woman’s boyfriend is not very nice.
• Wo ist der Rucksack des Kindes?
  Where is the child’s backpack?
• Die Häuser der Nachbarn sind groß.
  The neighbors’  houses are big.

German Indefinite Articles in the Genitive

Indefinite articles used in the genitive are eines, einer, and eines.

• Wie soll man das Fell eines Hundes pflegen?
  How should one care for the coat of a dog?
• Die Fenster einer Kirche sind bunt.
  The windows of a church are colorful.
• Ich höre die Stimme eines Kindes.
  I hear the voice of a child.

German Prepositions Followed by the Genitive

There are only a few prepositions that take objects in the genitive. The common ones are: anstatt (instead of), während (during), trotz (despite), wegen (because of). 

• Wegen des Wetters bleiben wir zu Hause.
  Because of bad weather, we’re staying home.
• Sie haben während des Films geredet.
  They talked during the film.

Summary of the Genitive Case

Genitive prepositions: anstatt (instead of), während (during), trotz (despite), wegen (because of). 

Tips for Mastering German Noun Cases

German noun cases may seem like quite a lot at first. But don’t worry! You already use cases in your own language, even if your language doesn’t mark them in any way. So you already have the ability to understand and uses cases. You just need to master all of the forms that German uses. Let’s break that down.

First, Understand the Basics

Learn the major roles of the cases. Subjects are in the nominative, direct objects are in the accusative, indirect obects are in the dative, and possessives are in the genitive.

Focus on the Articles

Since the nouns themselves don’t change except in a few cases, focus on the definite and indefinite article forms. Say them aloud and write them out for each case. Notice what changes, and what stays the same.

Bring in the Prepositions and Verbs

Remember that sentence roles like subject and direct object are only part of the picture. You also have to remember which prepositions, and in a few cases which verbs, take certain cases. Again, list them on paper and say them aloud: durch, für, gegen, ohne, um…  durch, für, gegen, ohne, um… 

Start with the Common and Simple Cases

The nominative is the case you’ll learn first, and then focus on the accusative since it’s very useful. After that, move on to the dative. Bring in the genitive last.

Make Charts

This may seem like a pain at first, but it’s a great way to see the patterns and memorize everything that you need to memorize. German is definitely a language where charts help!

Read and Listen Actively

When you’re reading or listening to German, pay attention to the cases. Listen for den and dem and einem and all of the rest as landmarks.

Practice in Patterns

Take a simple sentence like Ich sehe einen Mann. Then change the direct object to eine Frau and then ein Kind. Now make it definite: Ich sehe den Mann / die Frau / das Kind. Keep forming simple pattern sentences that you can plug different definite and indefinite nouns into.  

Be Patient and Tackle it a Little at a Time

Don’t try to master all of these different forms. They’ll come eventually, and it will be much more effective and enjoyable if you take it slowly and gradually.

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