A1 · The four cases · about 4 minutes
The accusative
the direct object case
One article changes, and that one change is most of what the accusative is.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need8
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- die Lampelamp
- der Monatmonth
- kennento know (a person or place)
- verpassento miss
- der AusweisID card
- hineinin, into (towards the inside)
- brauchento need
- neunew
Understand
RememberOnly der moves. Everything else stays.
- Signal words
- wen
- was
- den
- einen
- durch
- für
- gegen
- ohne
- um
The form
The forms side by side
All the forms in one overview: first what each one stands for, then the form in German, so you can compare them directly.
| masculine | den Mann / einen Mann / meinen Mann |
| feminine — unchanged | die Frau / eine Frau |
| neuter — unchanged | das Kind / ein Kind |
| plural — unchanged | die Leute |
| question | Wen? Was? |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The direct object of a verb stands in the accusative.
Ich lese den Brief.I am reading the letter.
Only the masculine article changes: der -> den, ein -> einen.
Sie kauft einen Tisch und eine Lampe.She is buying a table and a lamp.
durch, für, gegen, ohne and um always take the accusative.
Das Geschenk ist für meinen Vater.The present is for my father.
Time expressions saying how long or when stand in the accusative without a preposition.
Wir bleiben einen Monat.We are staying for a month.
Example sentences
Ich kenne deinen Bruder.I know your brother.
Wir suchen einen Parkplatz.We are looking for a parking space.
Sie hat den Zug verpasst.She missed the train.
10 more example sentences
Ohne einen Ausweis kommen Sie nicht hinein.You cannot get in without an ID.
Er arbeitet den ganzen Tag.He works all day.
Hast du den Schlüssel?Have you got the key?
Ich brauche einen neuen Laptop.I need a new laptop.
Sie fragt den Nachbarn nach dem Weg.She asks the neighbour for directions.
Wir fahren durch den Tunnel.We are driving through the tunnel.
Er hat nichts gegen den Vorschlag.He has nothing against the proposal.
Bitte ohne Zwiebeln!Without onions, please!
Ich warte jeden Morgen auf den Bus.I wait for the bus every morning.
Kennen Sie diesen Mann?Do you know this man?
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The masculine is the only one that moves, and that is exactly why it is forgotten: three nouns out of four behave, so the habit of not changing anything is rewarded most of the time. Turn it round when you practise — do not ask "does this need the accusative", ask "is this noun masculine", because if it is not, the question does not arise.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
4 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself5 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
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The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The accusative marks the direct object: the thing the verb acts on. Ich sehe den Mann — the man is being seen, so he is accusative, and the article says so.
Here is the fact that makes this topic much smaller than it looks: only the masculine changes. Der becomes den, ein becomes einen, mein becomes meinen. Feminine, neuter and plural are identical to the nominative. Three quarters of the accusative is nothing to learn at all.
The accusative is also demanded by a fixed group of prepositions — durch, für, gegen, ohne, um — regardless of what the verb is doing. That is a separate use of the same case, and it is worth keeping the two apart in your head: one comes from the verb, one comes from the preposition.
A closer look
Which verbs take an accusative, and why the list is shorter than it looks
Almost every verb that can be followed by "something" in English takes an accusative in German: sehen, hören, kaufen, lesen, machen, brauchen, suchen, finden, verstehen. You do not need a list, you need the question: is there something the verb is being done to?
The short list worth actually knowing is the other one — the verbs that look transitive in English and take a dative in German: helfen, danken, folgen, gratulieren, antworten, gehören, passen. Those are learned individually because nothing about them predicts it, and they are dealt with in the dative topic.
Exceptions and special cases2
Exception
When the noun is a weak masculine — Student, Kunde, Herr, Junge, Kollege, Nachbar
then the noun itself takes -n or -en as well as the article changing.
Ich frage den Kollegen.I am asking the colleague.
Why? This small group kept an older declension in which the noun carried the case too.
Exception
When the preposition is in, an, auf, über, unter, vor, hinter, neben or zwischen
then the accusative means movement towards, and the dative means position — the same preposition takes both.
Ich gehe in die Stadt. / Ich bin in der Stadt.I am going into town. / I am in town.
Why? These nine prepositions describe a relation that can be either a place or a direction, and German uses the case to say which.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
The five accusative prepositions fit in one line
German courses teach durch, für, gegen, ohne, um as a chant, and the chant is worth learning because these five never take anything else. There is no rule behind the membership of the group — it is a historical accident — so a memorised line is the honest way to hold it.
durch, für, gegen, ohne, um — immer Akkusativthrough, for, against, without, around — always accusative
Worth knowing
Bare time expressions are accusative
A stretch of time with no preposition takes the accusative: jeden Tag, letzten Montag, einen Monat, nächstes Jahr. English does the same thing invisibly, since nothing changes shape; in German the endings show, which is why jeden and not jeder.
Letzten Sommer waren wir in Italien.Last summer we were in Italy.
The verbs on this page, in every form: sein · haben · kommen · bleiben · gehen · arbeiten · fragen · lesen