0NOMINATIVE AND AKKUSATIVE
What is the subject of a sentence?
The subject of a sentence is the person or thing that is “doing” the verb. To find the subject, look for the verb and ask “Who or what is doing?” (substitute the verb for “doing” -- Who or what is singing? Who or what is sleeping?) Subjects are always in the NOMINATIVE CASE.
What is the direct object of a sentence?
The direct object receives the action of the verb. To find the direct object, look for the verb and ask “Who or what is being verbed?” (as in Who or what is being kicked? Who or what is being read?) Direct objects take the ACCUSATIVE CASE.
For example:
| The woman sees the girl. | The woman is the subject and is nominative. |
|
| the girl is the direct object and is accusative. |
| The girl sees the woman. | The girl is the subject and is nominative. |
|
| the woman is the direct object and is accusative. |
| George W. Bush is the President. | George W. Bush is the subject and is nominative. |
|
| the President is ALSO nominative because it follows “to be” (is). |
In English the articles “the”, “a” and “an” do not change depending on whether the noun is accusative or nominative. (Only pronouns change case in English: compare “She sees me” and “I see her”.)
In German not only the personal pronouns but also many other words change their form based on case. The articles (der, ein, kein, etc.), possessive adjectives (mein, dein, etc.), and a few (unusual) nouns all change their form (usually by adding or changing endings) depending on what case they are in. Right now we’ll be dealing mostly with the definite articles (der/die/das) and the indefinite articles (ein/eine); the table below shows how they change in the accusative case:
|
| Nominative | |
|
| Definite | Indefinite |
| Masc. | Der Tisch ist braun. | Das ist ein Tisch. |
| Fem. | Die Lampe ist neu. | Das ist eine Lampe. |
| Neut. | Das Fenster ist offen. | Das ist ein Fenster. |
| Plural | Die Bücher sind interessant. | Das sind keine Bücher. |
All of the nouns above are in the nominative case because they are
the subjects of the sentences or because they follow the verb “sein.”
|
| Accusative | |
|
| Definite | Indefinite |
| Masc. | Ich sehe den Tisch. | Ich habe einen Tisch. |
| Fem. | Ich sehe die Lampe. | Ich habe eine Lampe. |
| Neut. | Ich sehe das Fenster. | Ich habe ein Fenster. |
| Plural | Ich sehe die Bücher. | Ich habe keine Bücher. |
The nouns above are all in the accusative case because they are direct objects.
To summarize in a few words:
| Nominative case is used: | Accusative case is used: |
| - for the subjects of sentences | - for direct objects |
| - after any form of the verb “to be” | - after accusative prepositions |
