I must admit that when I first learned what cases are in German, I was a bit discouraged about learning them. They seemed too confusing and incomprehensible to me. Unfortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, German was a compulsory subject in my school. So I decided to learn only what interested me at the time – new vocabulary words, German songs and rhymes – completely ignoring complicated grammar issues. I even took part in a recitation contest in German, not knowing how cases work! There were times, of course, when I had to learn various grammar rules for a test, but I didn’t cultivate this knowledge and didn’t use it in practice, so it quickly floated out of my memory.
I learned this way for a really long time – until I noticed that learning languages was starting to give me more and more pleasure and I decided to go on to study philology.
In college, I noticed already during my first classes how big my deficiencies were compared to other students. Although I spoke German quite efficiently thanks to my way of learning, I still made mistakes that my professors considered “unacceptable” at this stage of my studies. I realized then that I could no longer put grammar aside and began to catch up at lightning speed. It turned out that German cases are not at all an impossible concept to understand; on the contrary, they are very logical.
In this article, I will give you all my knowledge of cases in the most accessible way possible and share the best methods of learning.
Good luck!
What are cases?
Grammatical cases play a key role in indicating the function of a noun in a sentence. They exist in German, but they play less of a major role in English.
The use of cases serves to define the relationship between persons and objects.
What does it mean? See this example:
| Diese Frau gibt dem Kind einen Ball. | The woman gives (to whom?/to what?) to the child (whom?/what?) a ball. |
Dem Kind (to the child) is the complement of the predicate, and einen Ball (a ball) is the complement of the accusative. The cases help us to express precisely who gives the ball and who is gifted with it.
In German there are 4 cases, in English technically there are three, and in Hungarian, for example, there are more than 20! The German cases are: Nominativ, Genitiv, Dativ and Akkusativ.
Is knowing the cases necessary to communicate in German? Not necessarily. However, without using them, your sentences will sound a bit strange. What you’re saying will not sound good or correct, but it will be understandable!
Remember that mastering cases to perfection takes some practice and time. You won’t use them flawlessly right away, but that doesn’t mean you should be afraid of conversations in German or wait until you’re “ready.” Treat the cases as a tool to help you speak accurately and don’t let them discourage you from speaking. After all, that’s what we learn languages for, to be able to communicate with others through them. The key to breaking the language barrier is to accept that making mistakes is also a language learning process!
What questions do the German cases answer?
I spent many hours on the cases, first when I was learning them myself, and then when teaching them to others. As a result, I was able to develop an effective way to master the subject. One of the most important things you should remember is that each case answers specific questions:
- Nominativ: wer? (who?), was? (what?)
- Genitiv: wessen? (whose?)
- Dativ: wem? (to whom?) was? (to what?) wo? (where?)
- Akkusativ: wen? (who/whom?), was? (what?), wohin? (where to?)
Unfortunately, it may be a bit more difficult for an English-speaking person to understand cases than it is for Poles or Hungarians; however, it’s not impossible. Check out this example:
| Tom hat seinem Sohn einen Ball gekauft. | Tom has bought a ball for his son. |
“Tom has bought a ball for his son.” – without the cases, it wouldn’t be entirely clear that Tom bought a ball FOR his son. Sometimes, prepositions in English have the same function as cases in German. Although everyone would know what the message is, it would be incorrect to omit the preposition.
Although this rule works really often, there are some exceptions. For example, for the verbs es gibt (it is, it is found) or lassen (to allow, to order):
- es gibt (there is): in English after “there is” we have to specify who/what, however, in German, it’s “of whom?” or”of what?”
| Gibt es hier einen Friseur? | Is there a hair salon here? |
- lassen (to allow, to order): in English we allow: someone or something; in German, “whom?” “what?”
| Mein Lehrer lässt mich die Hausaufgaben nachholen. | My teacher tells me to catch up on missed homework assignments. |
Declination by cases in German + table with generics
In German the genitive pronoun or adjective is conjugated by cases. The noun itself, on the other hand, remains unchanged (e.g. der Apfel, den Apfel, dem Apfel).
If you still don’t know what articles there are or want to recall information about them, be sure to take a look at our article on definite and indefinite articles.
To conjugate German nouns by cases, you need to know how to use the articles. For this you will need to know the table below:
| masculine | feminine | neuter | plural | |
| Nominativ (who/what?) | der | die | das | die |
| Genitiv (whose?) | des, -s | der | des, -s | der |
| Dativ (to whom/to what?) | dem | der | dem | den, -n |
| Akkusativ (who/what?) | den | die | das | die |
How much simpler it would be to learn German if it weren’t for the articles! Although mastering the articles causes many difficulties, they are the fundamental element of German grammar. So we have no choice but to accept this fact and start learning. And how to do it best?
To be able to use cases efficiently, you need to develop your linguistic intuition. You will do this by learning whole phrases and sentences by heart. By learning in full sentences you can automatically acquire grammatical structures. This allows you to speak the language more fluently and naturally. For example, if you memorize the entire phrase nach der Schule (after school), when speaking you won’t have to stop and think about which case the pronoun nach is connected to and how to conjugate the genitive correctly.
At Taalhammer we have been using this form of learning for a long time. Thanks to it, our students have managed to improve their communication skills and achieve language fluency. If you want to see for yourself the effectiveness of this method, test the Taalhammer app, where you can learn sentences prepared by our team of linguists and teachers, as well as create your own examples.esz uczyć się zdań przygotowanych przez nasz zespół lingwistów i nauczycieli, jak również tworzyć swoje własne przykłady.
Nominativ – table and examples
Nominativ (nominative) indicates the doer of the action. It answers the questions:
- wer? (who),
- was? (what).
Here are examples of how the Nominativ is used in a sentence. Note that after the verbs sein (to be), werden (to become), and bleiben (to stay), the noun always comes in the Nominativ.
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Du bist ein wunderbarer Mensch! | You are a wonderful person! |
| Ist das ein Kater oder eine Katze? | Is it a male or female cat? |
| Sie wird Ärztin werden. | She will be a doctor. |
| Ich werde Millionär sein! | I will be a millionaire! |
| Meine Schwester bleibt immer meine gute Freundin. | My sister will always remain my good friend. |
| Bleibst du noch ein bisschen? | Will you stay a little longer? |
| Das Buch ist interessant. | This book is interesting. |
| Die Blumen sind bunt. | The flowers are colorful. |
| Ein Hund bellt. | A dog is barking. |
| Eine Katze klettert auf den Baum. | A cat is climbing the tree. |
Accusativ – table and examples
Akkusativ is the equivalent of subjective in English. It answers the questions:
- wen? (whom),
- was? (what),
- and wohin? (where), but about that a little later.
It is a proximal complement, usually the thing on which the action acts.
Verbs combining with Akkusativ
There is a whole group of verbs that always combine with the Akkusativ, such as lieben (to love), fragen (to ask), and essen (to eat).
Prepositions that combine with Akkusativ
In German, there are a lot of prepositions that always require the use of Akkusativ. These include: durch (through), für (for/for), gegen (against), ohne (without), and um (about). As soon as you use any of these, you should think of: den, ihn, mich, dich.
There are no tricks to learn it. The most effective way is to memorize many examples and try to use them in conversations. Take a look at these examples:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| durch den Wald | through the woods |
| Bist du durch die Stadt oder durch den Wald gegangen? | Did you walk through the city or through the forest? |
| für mich | for me |
| Hast du etwas für mich? | Do you have something for me? |
| gegen ihn | against him |
| Bist du gegen ihn oder für ihn? | Are you against him or for him? |
| ohne dich | without you |
| Ich kann ohne dich nicht leben! | I can’t live without you! |
| um den Hund | about the dog |
| Sie kümmert sich um den Hund. | She takes care of the dog. |
Dativ – table and examples
The dativ answers the questions:
- wem? (to whom),
- was? (to what)
- and wo? (where).
It refers to the further complement, which is usually the person who bears the consequences of an action. The further complement helps us understand to whom something happens, who benefits from a situation or who is involved in a process, e.g. Ich schenke meiner Freundin ein Buch. Let’s analyze this sentence carefully:
| Ich schenke | meiner Freundin | ein Buch. |
| I give | my friend | a book. |
| – | to whom?/to what? – Dativ | who?/what? – Akkusativ |
Further and closer complements sound like black magic? Remember it this way: in a sentence with two complements, the person will always be in the Dativ and the thing in the Akkusativ.
Verbs that combine with the Dativ
There is an entire group of verbs that always combine with the Dativ, such as passieren (to become/ happen), schmecken (to taste), or geben (to give).
Prepositions combining with Dativ
In German, there are several pronouns that always require the use of Dativ: aus (with), bei (at), mit (with), nach (after/to), seit (from), von (from), zu (to), and gegenüber (opposite). When you see them, you should automatically think of: dem, ihm, mir, dir. Look at the following examples:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| aus dem Norden | from the north |
| Er kam aus dem Norden. | He came from the north. |
| bei mir | at my place |
| Du kannst bei mir schlafen. | You can sleep at my place. |
| mit wem? | with who |
| mit dir | with you |
| Mit wem arbeitest du gerne? Ich arbeite gerne mit dir. | Who do you like to work with? I like to work with you. |
| nach dem Spaziergang | after the walk |
| Nach dem Spaziergang habe ich mich ausgeruht. | After the walk, I rested. |
| seit der Party | since the party |
| Ich habe ihn seit der Party nicht mehr gesehen. | I haven’t seen him since the party. |
| von den Hennen | from hens |
| Die Eier kommen von den Hennen. | The eggs are from hens. |
| zu ihr | to her |
| Was hast du zu ihr gesagt? | What did you say to her? |
| gegenüber dem Restaurant | opposite the restaurant |
| Wir trafen uns gegenüber dem Restaurant. | We met opposite the restaurant. |
Genitiv table and examples
Genitiv is the equivalent of the English possesive. It is the least frequently used case. It answers the question wessen? (whose?).
It is used to express ownership or belonging. Although the Genitiv is used relatively infrequently and seems difficult, there is a group of pronouns that always combine with the Genitiv and are easy to recognize and learn.
Akkusativ or Dativ?
Until now, it has been unambiguous, because verbs and prepositions have always combined with one case. However, there is a group of prepositions that are not so “faithful” and can combine with an Akkusativ or Dativ depending on the context (or, more precisely, on whether the verb expresses some kind of movement). These are the so-called Wechselpräpositionen. I discussed this topic more extensively in an article on prepositions with cases.
These prepositions include an (at, on), auf (on), in (in), über (over), unter (under), hinter (behind), neben (next to), vor (in front of) and zwischen (between). A good way to learn this is to look at the differences for the following pairs of verbs: stehen vs. stellen (to stand vs. to lay down), sitzen vs. setzten (to sit vs. to sit down), liegen vs. legen (to lie down vs. to lay down). Take a look at these examples:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Die Schlüssel liegen auf einem Tisch. | The keys lie on the table. |
| Ich lege die Schlüssel auf einen Tisch. | I put the keys on the table. |
| Ich sitze auf deinem Auto. | I’m sitting on your car. |
| Setz dich nicht auf mein Auto! | Don’t sit on my car! |
| Wo steht der Tisch? Der Tisch steht zwischen dir und mir. | Where does the table stand? The table stands between you and me. |
| Wohin stellst du den Tisch? Ich stelle den Tisch zwischen dich und mich. | Where do you put the table? |
In a nutshell, the principle is that you should use:
- Akkusativ if you are answering the question wohin? (where?) and you use verbs that denote movement, e.g.: legen (to lay), stellen (to put), gehen (to go).
- Dativ if you are answering the question wo? (where?) and you use verbs not related to movement, e.g.: liegen (to lie), stehen (to stand), sein (to be).
Look at the further example sentences:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| Der Stuhl steht hinter dem Schrank. | The chair stands behind the closet. |
| Ich stelle den Stuhl hinter den Schrank. | I put a chair behind the closet. |
| Wo liegen Bücher? Die Bücher liegen auf dem Regal. | Where do the books lie? The books lie on the shelf. |
| Wohin legt ihr die Bücher? Wir legen die Bücher auf das Regal. | Where do we put the books? We put the books on the shelf. |
| Er sitzt zwischen den Frauen. | He sits between the women. |
| Er setzt sich zwischen die Frauen. | He sits down between the women. |
Be sure to look here to practice Wechselpräpositionen in the form of an interactive video!
Master German cases with the Taalhammer app!
I hope that in this article I managed to dispel all your doubts about the cases. However, this is not the end! To use cases quickly and confidently, it is not enough to know the theory alone. You must first go through some exercises and learn by heart as many phrases and sentences as possible until you develop language reflexes.This is where our German language course or the exercises in the Taalhammer app come to your aid. The mobile app is an excellent tool that you can use to make your learning more varied and systematic. Ready-made repetition sets, which are a necessary part of language learning, are waiting for you there. Start learning now, and soon you will be able to enjoy visible progress in of your work. Good luck!
