Recognising the accusative
Question
What is the nominative (subject) and what is the accusative (object) in these sentences?
Remember:
- There is not always an object in a sentence and sometimes there might be more than one subject.
- The subject is not always the first word.
Example: Er [nominative] isst gern den Spargel [accusative]. – He likes eating the asparagus.
- Ihre Mutter mag meinen Zwiebelkuchen. – Her mother likes my onion tart.
- Die Aprikosen haben zwei Euro gekostet. – The apricots cost two euros.
- Jeden Tag kaufe ich die Pommes. – I buy the chips every day.
- Die Strausse hat einen guten Ruf. – The Strausse has a good reputation.
- Herbst ist seine Lieblingsjahreszeit. – Autumn is his favourite season.
- Ihre Mutter [nominative] mag meinen Zwiebelkuchen [accusative] – Her mother likes my onion tart.
Reason: The onion tart is being liked by her Mum.
- Die Aprikosen [nominative] haben zwei Euro gekostet. – The apricots cost two euros.
Reason: Two euros are being attached to the apricots.
- Jeden Tag kaufe ich [nominative] die Pommes [accusative]. – I buy the chips every day.
Reason: The chips are being bought by me. The Jeden Tag changes the word order but 'I' is still the subject.
- Die Strausse [nominative] hat einen guten Ruf [accusative]. – The Strausse has a good reputation.
Reason: The reputation is possessed by this Strausse.
- Herbst [nominative] ist seine Lieblingsjahreszeit [nominative]. – Autumn is his favourite season.
Reason: There is no object because Herbst and Lieblingsjahreszeit are the same thing so they are both the subject. The verb sein does not take the accusative.
Using the accusative
Question
Look at these sentences and fill in the gap with the accusative case.
Example:In der Pause esse ich __________ Apfel. (m) – At break, I eat an apple.
The missing word is einen because:
- Apfel is the object so in the accusative case
- Apfel is masculine
- der changes to den and ein changes to einen in the accusative case
Key: (m) = masculine, (f) = feminine, (nt) = neuter, (pl) = plural
- Er isst __________ Apfel. (m)
- Wir haben __________ Problem. (nt)
- Meine Schwester sucht __________ Wohnung. (f)
- Gestern habe ich __________ Zeitung gelesen. (f)
- Ich habe __________ Handy vergessen. (nt)
- Wachau hat __________ Marillenfest. (nt)
- Meine Freundin hat __________ Aprikosen gegessen. (pl)
- Wir haben __________ Film schon gesehen. (m)
- Er isst einen Apfel.
- Wir haben ein Problem.
- Meine Schwester sucht eine Wohnung.
- Gestern habe ich die Zeitung gelesen.
- Ich habe mein Handy vergessen.
- Wachau hat ein Marillenfest.
- Meine Freundin hat keine Aprikosen gegessen.
- Wir haben den Film schon gesehen.
Pronouns in the accusative case
In the accusative case the personal pronouns are:
| German | English |
| mich | me |
| dich | you (singular, informal) |
| ihn | him |
| sie | her |
| es | it |
| uns | us |
| euch | you (plural, informal) |
| Sie | you (singular or plural, formal) |
| sie | them |
| German | mich |
|---|---|
| English | me |
| German | dich |
|---|---|
| English | you (singular, informal) |
| German | ihn |
|---|---|
| English | him |
| German | sie |
|---|---|
| English | her |
| German | es |
|---|---|
| English | it |
| German | uns |
|---|---|
| English | us |
| German | euch |
|---|---|
| English | you (plural, informal) |
| German | Sie |
|---|---|
| English | you (singular or plural, formal) |
| German | sie |
|---|---|
| English | them |
Examples in use
- Ich liebe dich. - I love you.
I is the subject and you is the object, so you needs to be in the accusative case.
- Sie hat ihn gestern gesehen. - She saw him yesterday.
She is the subject and him is the object, so him needs to be in the accusative case.
- Wir haben sie im Restaurant getroffen. - We met them in the restaurant.
We is the subject and them is the object, so them needs to be in the accusative case.
You also use the accusative case after certain prepositions:
- bis – until
- durch – through
- entlang – along
- für – for
- gegen – against
- ohne – without
- um – around
- wider – against
Here are some examples in use.
- Wir sitzen um den Tisch (m) und essen den Spargel. – We are sitting around the table and are eating asparagus.
- Ich esse lieber Kuchen ohne die Sahne. (f) – I prefer eating cake without the cream.
- Der Zwiebelkuchen war für das Kind. (nt) – The onion tart was for the child.
- Ich bin durch die Wälder (pl) gelaufen, um Pfifferlinge zu finden. – I walked through the woods to find mushrooms.
