Cases - German

Cases - German

By Claudia Franz

Intro

The case of a noun changes depending on its function in a sentence. There are 4 cases in German: the nominative, accusative, genitive and dative.

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Cases give structure​ to a sentence and make the meaning clear. Using the wrong case can completely change the meaning of a sentence

Cases

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT a case in German

• Genitive

• Dative

• Ablative

• Nominative

The nom​inative

The nominative is used for the subject of the sentence. The person or thing doing the action of the verb.

​

The nominative case is always used after the following verbs:

sein - to be

werden - to become​

Cases

Multiple Choice

Select the subject of the sentence:

der Lehrer kauft einen Computer

• der Lehrer

• kauft

• einen Computer

The accusative

The accusative is used for the direct object - the person or thing to which the verb is 'done'

​

Always use the accusative after 'es gibt' (there is/are)​

Multiple Choice

Select the direct object of this sentence:

• der Lehrer

• kauft

• einen Computer

Multiple Choice

Which of the following triggers the accusative?

• sein

• es gibt

• werden

The masculine is the only gender whose article changes in the

The articles

The dative

The dative is used for the indirect object - 'to' or 'for' somebody or somethign

​

The verbs 'helfen' (to help) and 'danken'​ (to thank) trigger the dative for the object (e.g. ich helfe meiner Mutter)

Multiple Choice

Pick the indirect object in the sentence

• ich

• gebe

• dem Lehrer

• ein Buch

Multiple Choice

Pick the direct object in the sentence

• ich

• gebe

• dem Lehrer

• ein Buch

Articles

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct word to complete the sentence:

Ich gehe mit einem/einer Freund zur Schule

• einem

• einer

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct word to complete the sentence:

Maria geht mit einem/einer Freundin ins Kino

• einem

• einer

Multiple Select

Pick the correct words to complete the sentence:

Meine Freunde kommen mit dem/der Fahrrad zum/zur Schule

• dem

• der

• zum

• zur

an

auf

hinter

neben

unter

über

in

vor

zwischen​

Dual case

aus

außer

bei

mit

nach

seit

von

zu​

Dative only

Prepositions which trigger the dative

Multiple Choice

Which of the following ONLY triggers the dative?

• an

• hinter

• zu

• zwischen

The genitive

• The genitive is used to show possession. It can be translated using the word 'of'.

• In English, we say 'my brother's present', but in German you have to say 'the present of my brother'

• As in the other cases, the words for 'the', 'a' etc. change in the genitive.

• You also need to add 's' or 'es' to the end of the masculine and neuter nouns ('es' for one syllable, 's' if longer​)

The genitive

The genitive​ is required after certain prepositions:

anstatt (instead of)

außerhalb (outside)

innerhalb (inside)

trotz (despite)

​während (during)

wegen (because of)​

Multiple Choice

Pick the part of the sentence which shows the genitive

• Die Stimmung

• des Festes

• war

• toll

Multiple Choice

Pick the part of the sentence which shows the genitive

• Wir

• haben

• den Beginn

• der Sommerferien

• gefeiert

Articles (with genitive)