Grammatical

Terminology
CASES
DEUTSCH: “DIE KASUS”, OR “DIE FÄLLE”
General explanation

 In grammar, the case changes what a noun, adjective or pronoun does in a

sentence, i.e. what its function is.
 For example: Is it the subject of the action? Or is it the object of the action, i.e.
the one the action is aimed at.
 “Melanie hits Ben” vs “Stefan hits Melanie”
 In the first sentence, Melanie is the subject; in the second one, she is
the object.
General explanation

 Unlike many other, English does not use cases (anymore) to express the
function of a word within a sentence – the exception being pronouns.
Instead, the function is expressed through the relatively inflexible word order [or
syntax] and/or prepositions.
 “Jack eats the fish” ≠ “The fish eats Jack”

 In German and other languages that use cases, the word order can be
changed without the sentence loosing its original meaning. The difference is
mostly a matter of emphasis.
 “Jack isst den Fisch” = “Den Fisch isst Jack”
 In this example, you can see the case expressed in the article preceding
the noun “Fisch”, which would carry the article “der” if it was the subject the
sentence instead of the object, e.g. “Der Fisch schwimmt im Ozean.”
Declension
[Deutsch: Deklination]

 The expression of case is one of three aspects of the declension of nouns, articles,
adjectives, pronouns, and numerals – i.e. their changing to express a grammatical
feature (in this case its function within a sentence).

 Declension in German is usually done using endings [suffixes]

 Das Haus ist schön. [The house is
beautiful]
 Die Schönheit meines Hauses ist offensichtlich. [The beauty of my house is evident]
 Ich gehe nach Hause. [I’m going home]
 This ca
se i s a l
“Wer” so
-Fall in called the
indicat Germa
n,
Nominative Case have to
ing the
u
questio
of the s se to ask for
n word
yo
[Deutsch: Der Nominativ] entenc this pa u
e. rt

 The nominative is the 1st case [Kasus/Fall] in German.

 Its most important function of the nominative is to mark the subject in a

sentence.
 The subject is the actor/doer. The nominative therefore indicates who does
something.

 Examples:
 Der Lehrer erklärt die Aufgabe. — The teacher explains the task.
 Die Kinder gehen zur Schule. — The children go to school.
 Sie trägt Zeitungen aus. — She delivers the newspapers.
 This ca
s e i s al
“Wen so
oder W called the
German as
, indica ”-Fall in
Accusative words y
this pa
o u ha v
t i ng t he
e t o us
questio
e to as n
[Deutsch: Der Akkusativ] rt o f th k f or
e sente
nce.

 The accusative is the 4th case [Kasus/Fall] in German.

 The most important function of the accusative is to mark the direct object in a
sentence.
 The direct object is a person or thing that an action is aimed at.

 Do
Examples: is you
a
 in lwa notic
Das Mädchen ruft ihre Freundin an. — The girl rings her friend.
in
En ys
g i eh
Ge lish n th ow
fun rm , b e t
 Der Kunde kauft ein Brot. — The costumer buys
cti a ut sam he o
anbread.
on ? n e bj
 of The ot ne spo ect
Ein Brot kauft der Kunde. — The costumer buys a bread.
a w ca c t
ord se m essa
 Ich habe ihn getroffen. — I have met him. . ark rily
st
he
 This
ca
“We se is also
m c
Germ oder Wa alled the
a s
word n, indicat ”-Fall in
Dative s in
this p you have g the que
art o f to st
[Deutsch: Der Dativ] the s use to as ion
enten k f or
ce.

The dative is the 3rd case [Kasus/Fall] in German.

1. The most important function of the dative is to mark the indirect object in a
sentence.
 The indirect object is often a person or thing that receives something [i.e.
the direct object in the accusative].
 Examples:
 Das Mädchen gibt ihrer Freundin ein Buch. — The girl gives a book to her
friend.
 Ich erkläre der Frau den Weg. — I explain the way
to the woman.
 Der Frau erkläre ich den Weg. — I explain the way
Can you seetohow
thethe case endings allow Germans to change the word order without the sentence loosing its meaning.
woman
The case marks the function of a word in German, in English it’s the position in the sentence!

continued
 Dative
[Deutsch: Der Dativ]

2. Certain prepositions always trigger the dative.

 The following prepositions are always followed by the dative case: aus, bei, mit,
gegenüber, nach, seit, von, zu
 Ich fahre mit der Straßenbahn.
 Sanne und Jan gehen zum Kino.
 Seit dem ersten Januar wohnt sie in Berlin.
 The following prepositions trigger the dative case if they indicate a stationary
position/location (in opposition to a direction): an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor,
zwischen
 Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch.
 Sanne und Jan sind im Kino.
 Der Bus hält an der Bushaltestelle.
 This
ca
“We se is also
ss c
indic en”-Fall alled the
at in
have ing the qu German
Genitive to e
of the use to a stion wor
,
[Deutsch: Der Genitiv] sente sk fo d y ou
nce. r this p
ar t

The genitive is the 2nd case [Kasus/Fall] in German.

 It is used to show possession, origin, or relationship between nouns..
 In English, it is often expressed by adding an apostrophe and ‘s’ (or just an
apostrophe for plural nouns):
 Examples:
 John‘s book. — the book belongs to John
 The car‘s engine. — the engine belongs to the car

 In German, it is more explicit and is indicated by specific endings for both nouns and
their articles.
 Examples: Note: so
me word
 Brittas Buch. — the book belongs to Britta
here inse s like “M
rt an “e” ann
 das Buch des Mannes — the book belongs to the man for pronu before th ”
nciation e “ s”
 der Motor des Autos — the engine belongs to the car