The Four German Cases – Quick Overview
German uses four grammatical cases to show the role of a noun or pronoun in a sentence. Instead of relying only on word order, German changes articles and pronouns to express meaning.
The four cases are:
1. Nominative (Nominativ) – The subject
Role: Subject of the sentence
Questions Wer? Was? (Who? What?)
Example:
Der Mann liest.
(The man reads.)
➡ Der Mann = subject → Nominative
2. Accusative (Akkusativ), Direct Object
Role:Direct object
QuestionsWen? Was? (Whom? What?)
Example:
Der Mann liest ein Buch.
(The man reads a book.)
➡ Buch = Direct Object → Accusative
3. Dative (Dativ), Indirect Object
Role: Indirect object
Questions Wem? (To whom?)
Example:
Der Mann gibt dem Kind ein Buch.
(The man gives the child a book.)
➡ Kind = Indirect Object → Dative
4. Genitive (Genitiv)
Role:Possession or relationship
Questions Wessen? (Whose?)
Example:
Das Buch des Mannes
(The man’s book.)
➡ Mannes = Possession → Genitive