German / Herr Marshall

Kasus: Nominativ und Akkusativ
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.
Barak Obama is the President. / Barak Obama 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. / DerTischistbraun. / EinTischistdort.
Fem. / Die Lampe istneu. / Eine Lampeistda.
Neut. / DasFensteristoffen. / Das isteinFenster. / EinFensteristoffen.
Plural / DieBüchersindinteressant. / DassindkeineBücher.
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. / IchsehedenTisch. / IchhabeeinenTisch.
Fem. / Ichsehedie Lampe. / Ichhabeeine Lampe.
Neut. / IchsehedasFenster. / IchhabeeinFenster.
Plural / IchsehedieBücher. / IchhabekeineBücher.
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
A. Practice.Circle all nouns in the nominative, and underline all nouns in the accusative.
1. / I meet them on Tuesday. / 6. / He plays the piano.
2. / They invited me. / 7. / Run Lola Run is a German movie.
3. / Paul hit the ball. / 8. / I’m sleeping.
4. / Martin and Petra like to read. / 9. / Is that a Mercedes?
5. / Have you seen a Shakespeare play? / 10. / Donald owns a hotel and a car.
B. Auf deutsch.Now practice identifying subjects and objects in these German sentences.
1. / Er hat einBuch. / Subjekt = ______/ Objekt =______
2. / IchtrinkeKaffee. / Subjekt = ______/ Objekt =______
3. / Martin und Georg kaufenviele CDs. / Subjekt = ______/ Objekt =______
4. / Peter hat den Stift. / Subjekt = ______/ Objekt =______
5. / Herr Schmidt trinkteine Cola und ein Bier. / Subjekt = ______/ Objekt =______
6. / UnsereGrosselternsprechen Deutsch. / Subjekt = ______/ Objekt =______
C. Siesinddran.Now that you’ve had some practice recognizing forms, what about writing them yourselves? Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the articles in parentheses. First, figure out what word is subject and what is object; then think about what the right form is.
Fill in the correct DEFINITE article (der/die/das/den).
1. / ______Vaterfindet ______Türnicht.
2. / ______Professorinschreibt ______Brief (=letter, m).
3. / Hat ______Bruder ______Buch?
4. / Er hat ______Buch und ______Stift.
5. / ______Frau kauft ______Fernseher, ______Lampe und ______Telefon (n).
6. / Das ist ______Mann!
7. / Ichmache ______Buch, ______Tür und ______Fenster auf.
8. / ______Zimmer istsehr gross.
9. / ______Bücher (pl) sindklein.
10. / Wosind ______Kinder (pl)?
11. / Woist ______Schreibtisch?
12. / Ichsehe ______Schreibtisch.
13. / Wirhören ______Studenten (pl).
14. / ______Mutter lerntEnglisch.
15. / Herr und Frau Schmidt verstehen ______Sohn und ______Tochternicht.
Fill in the correct INDEFINITE article (ein/eine/einen).
1. / ______Mann kommt ins Klassenzimmer.
2. / Hast du ______Bruderoder ______Schwester?
3. / ______Stuhlistkaputt.
4. / Hast du ______Stuhl?
5. / Ichsuche ______Stuhl und ______Tasche.
6. / MeineSchwester und ichsehen ______Freund und ______Freundin in derSchule.
7. / Heute (=today) kommt ______Neffe von mir (=of mine).
8. / ______Studentinheißt Karin und ______Student heißt Karl.
Fill in the correct form of kein.
1. / Das ist ______Mann -- das isteine Frau!
2. / Das ist ______Problem (n).
3. / Wirhaben ______Zeit (=time, f).
4. / Hierist ______Uhr.
5. / Sie hat ______Lampe, ______Stuhl und ______Buch.
Accusative Pronouns
You have already learned the accusative case with definite and indefinite articles (den, einen). You have also learned personal pronouns in the nominative case (ich, du, er, etc). Now it’s time to learn the same pronouns in the accusative case. They are:
NOM / AKK / ENG / NOM / AKK / ENG
ich / mich / me / wir / uns / us
du / dich / you / ihr / euch / you all
er / ihn / him / sie / sie / them
sie / sie / her / Sie / Sie / You (formal)
es / es / it
Learning aid: the pronouns for ‘me’ (mich) and ‘us’ (uns) are very much like English, so they shouldn’t be a problem. The pronouns for ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘it’ and ‘them’ follow the same pattern as the articles: der(er) becomes den(ihn); die(sie) stays die(sie), and das(es) stays das(es). That leaves the plural you form (ihr - euch), which you’ll just need to memorize!
When to use the accusative case, as a reminder: direct objects in a sentence must be in the accusative case.
Siehst du den Mann? / -- / Ja, ichseheihn.
Hast du dasBuch? / -- / Ja, ichhabees.
Kennst du mich? / -- / Ja, ichkennedich.
Note: please do not confuse these pronouns with the possessive adjectives (his, her, my, your) that we learned a few days ago. Those words (mein, dein, sein) are just like the article ein: (m)eine Mutter. The accusative pronouns, however, stand alone as a substitute for a noun, just like in English: I see them = Ichsehesie.
A.Decide whether the pronouns are in the nominative or accusative case.
1. / Michael fragtihn. ( NOM / AKK ) / 5. / Werspieltes? ( NOM / AKK )
2. / Kennst du sie? ( NOM / AKK ) / 6. / Wannfängtes an? ( NOM / AKK )
3. / Sie hat es. ( NOM / AKK ) / 7. / Wofindeichihn? ( NOM / AKK )
4. / Er hat siegern. ( NOM / AKK ) / 8. / Siehtersie? ( NOM / AKK )
B.Restate the sentences using a pronoun instead of the underlined noun. Write the correct pronoun in the blank.
1. / Wirhören das Konzert. -- Wirhören ______.
2. / Ichsehe den Lehrer. -- Ichsehe ______.
3. / Besuchtihr die Familie? -- Besuchtihr ______?
4. / Ichfrage die Lehrerin. -- Ichfrage ______.
5. / Ichrufe die Kinder an. -- Ichrufe ______an.
6. / Ichhöre den Engländer. -- Ichhöre ______.
7. / Er hat einBuch. -- Er hat ______.
8. / Hast du den Stift? -- Hast du ______?
C.Provide the pronouns for the underlined nouns in the answering statement.
1. / Sehtihr den Fernseher? -- Ja, wirsehen ______.
2. / Fragst du deinen Freund? -- Ja, ichmöchte ______fragen.
3. / Verstehtihr die Hausaufgaben (pl)? -- Nein, wirverstehen ______nicht.
4. / WoistdieLehrerin? -- Dort ist ______!
D.Supply the proper personal pronoun in German for those in parentheses.
1. / Kannich ______(You, formal)etwasfragen, Herr Peters?
2. / Wirsehen ______(her)imKlassenzimmer.
3. / Kenntihr ______(him)nicht?
4. / Warumkönntihr ______(me)nichtverstehen?
5. / FragenSie ______(us)bitte!
6. / Ichkann ______(you)schonsehen, Jörg.
7. / Siebesucht ______(you, pl) bald, Petra und Andrea.