Akkusativ answers the questions:
- wen? (whom),
- was? (what),
- and wohin? (where), but about that a little later.
Some verbs are always followed by an Akkusativ. Examples are: lieben (to love), fragen (to ask), essen (to eat), kaufen (to buy), kennenlernen (to get to know), mögen (to like), machen (to do), möchten (to want), kosten (to cost). Look at these examples:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Wen liebst du mehr: mich oder ihn? | Who do you love more: me or him? |
| Ich liebe dich! | I love you! |
| Hast du ihn gefragt? | Did you ask him? |
| Ich will dich etwas fragen. | I want to ask you something. |
| Wen hast du kennengelernt? | Who did you meet? |
| Du hast mich letztes Jahr kennengelernt. | You met me last year. |
| Ich mag dich sehr! | I like you very much. |
| Magst du ihn? | Do you like him? |
| Was hast du heute gekauft? | What did you buy today? |
| Ich werde sie fragen, ob sie mich mag. | I’ll ask her if she likes me. |
| Das Kind möchte einen neuen Ball. | The child wants a new ball. |
As a side note, do you know which prepositions combine with akkusativ? Click here to find that out.
Note the personal pronouns in the accusative: mich, dich, ihn (i.e. me, you, him). Look at the summary to see how the pronouns change in the accusative:
- I love myself. – Ich liebe mich.
- I love you. – Ich liebe dich.
- I love him. – Ich liebe ihn.
- I love her. – Ich liebe sie.
- I love us. – Ich liebe uns.
- I love you guys. – Ich liebe euch.
- I love them. – Ich liebe sie.
The same goes for the articles. In the Akkusativ, change the masculine article der to den, ein to einen, and kein to keinen. Leave the feminine (die/eine/keine) and neutral (das/ein/kein) types unchanged. Look at these examples:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Was isst du? Ich esse einen Apfel. | What do you eat? I’m eating an apple. |
| Diese Woche esse ich keinen Zucker. | I’m not eating sugar this week. |
| Ich habe ein Buch gekauft. | I bought a book. |
| Letzten Sommer lernte ich eine Sprache. | I learned a language last summer. |
| Er heiratete die Lehrerin. | He married the teacher. |
| Ich habe letzten Freitag ein Mädchen kennengelernt. | Last Friday I met a girl. |
| Letzten Freitag habe ich den Typen wieder getroffen. | Last Friday I met the guy again. |
If you want to learn more about cases in German, such as Dativ or Genitiv, read our article “Cases in German“.
