Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n There are four cases in German:<\/p>\n\n In German, several categories of words are declined by cases, which allows for precise determination of their function in the sentence. The most important categories include nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles. Each of these elements changes its form depending on the case in which it appears, which is crucial for understanding and creating correct sentence structures.<\/p>\n\n Nouns (Substantive):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Nouns in German are declined by cases, which often involves changing endings. For example, in the Genitive case, the ending -s or -es is added to masculine and neuter nouns.<\/p>\n\n Case declension allows us to understand who is the performer of the action, who is its recipient, and what the relationships are between the individual elements of the sentence. Knowledge of these rules is crucial for anyone who wants to use German correctly.<\/p>\n\n The nominative case is the basic case in German, used primarily to indicate the subject of the sentence, which is the person or thing performing the action. The nominative case answers the questions “who?” or “what?”. This is the case that German learners encounter most frequently.<\/p>\n\n Nominative Case: wer? was? – who? what?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Singular<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Plural<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Here are a few example sentences using the nominative case:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The genitive case is one of the four cases in German, used primarily to express possession or relationships between nouns. While its use is becoming less common in everyday spoken language, it still plays an important role in written and formal language.<\/p>\n\n Genitive Case: wessen? – whose?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Definite Article:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Indefinite Article:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Here are a few example sentences using the genitive case:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The dative case (Dativ) is one of the four cases in German, used primarily to indicate the indirect object, which is the person or thing that is the recipient or beneficiary of an action. This case answers the questions “whom?” or “to what?”. It is essential for forming sentences with two objects and when using many verbs and prepositions.<\/p>\n\n Dative Case: wem? – to whom? to what?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Example sentences using the dative case:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The accusative case (Akkusativ) is one of the four cases in German, used primarily to indicate the direct object, which is the person or thing that is directly affected by the action performed by the subject. This case answers the questions “whom?” or “what?”. It is one of the most commonly used cases, right after the nominative case.<\/p>\n\n Accusative Case: wen? was? – whom? what?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Singular<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Plural<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Note that in the plural, the accusative case has the same form as the nominative case.<\/p>\n\n The definite article der<\/strong> of the masculine gender takes the form den<\/strong> in the accusative case singular, and the indefinite article ein<\/strong> takes the form einen<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n The definite and indefinite articles of the feminine and neuter genders have the same form in the accusative case as in the nominative case, e.g.:<\/p>\n\n Below is a brief summary of the forms of definite and indefinite articles in the nominative, dative, and accusative cases, which are the most commonly used cases in the German language.<\/p>\n\n Masculine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Feminine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Neuter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Plural<\/strong><\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n
German noun declension is a crucial element of grammar that may seem complicated at first, but with the right approach, it can be easily mastered. In this blog post, we will present the most important information about cases and provide practical examples that will help you understand how and when to use them. With us, learning German grammar will become easier!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
German Cases<\/h2>\n\n
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What is declined by cases in German?<\/h2>\n\n
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Personal, possessive, and demonstrative pronouns also decline by cases, which helps to determine who is performing the action, to whom it refers, or what is the subject of the conversation. For example: ich (I) \u2192 mir (to me) in the Dative case, mich (me) in the Accusative case.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Adjectives change their endings depending on the case, the gender of the noun, and the number they describe. For example: ein gro\u00dfer Hund (nominative case, singular, masculine gender) \u2192 eines gro\u00dfen Hundes (genitive case, singular, masculine gender).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Both definite articles (der, die, das) and indefinite articles (ein, eine) decline by cases, which makes it easier to identify the function of the noun in the sentence.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\nTable of Article Declension<\/h2>\n\n
<\/td> Masculine<\/strong><\/td> Feminine<\/strong><\/td> Neuter<\/strong><\/td> Plural<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Nominativ<\/strong><\/td> der\/ein<\/td> die\/eine<\/td> das\/ein<\/td> die\/-<\/td><\/tr> Akkusativ<\/strong><\/td> des\/eines<\/td> der\/einer<\/td> des\/eines<\/td> der\/-<\/td><\/tr> Dativ<\/strong><\/td> dem\/einem<\/td> der\/einer<\/td> dem\/einem<\/td> den\/-
+ n at the end of the noun<\/td><\/tr>Genitiv<\/strong><\/td> den\/einen<\/td> die\/eine<\/td> das\/ein<\/td> die\/-<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n Nominative Case – Nominativ<\/h2>\n\n
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Gender<\/th> Noun<\/th> Indefinite Article<\/th> Possessive Pronoun<\/th> Formal Possessive Pronoun<\/th> Negative Determiner<\/th><\/tr> Masculine<\/td> der Sch\u00fcler (student)<\/td> ein Sch\u00fcler<\/td> mein Sch\u00fcler<\/td> Ihr Sch\u00fcler<\/td> kein Sch\u00fcler<\/td><\/tr> Feminine<\/td> die Sch\u00fclerin (student)<\/td> eine Sch\u00fclerin<\/td> meine Sch\u00fclerin<\/td> Ihre Sch\u00fclerin<\/td> keine Sch\u00fclerin<\/td><\/tr> Neuter<\/td> das Kind (child)<\/td> ein Kind<\/td> mein Kind<\/td> Ihr Kind<\/td> kein Kind<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n Gender<\/th> Noun<\/th> Possessive Pronoun<\/th> Formal Possessive Pronoun<\/th> Negative Determiner<\/th><\/tr> Masculine<\/td> die Sch\u00fcler (students)<\/td> meine Sch\u00fcler<\/td> Ihre Sch\u00fcler<\/td> keine Sch\u00fcler<\/td><\/tr> Feminine<\/td> die Sch\u00fclerinnen (students)<\/td> meine Sch\u00fclerinnen<\/td> Ihre Sch\u00fclerinnen<\/td> keine Sch\u00fclerinnen<\/td><\/tr> Neuter<\/td> die Kinder (children)<\/td> meine Kinder<\/td> Ihre Kinder<\/td> keine Kinder<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n \n
Genitive Case – Genitiv<\/h2>\n\n
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Gender<\/th> Noun<\/th> Genitive Form<\/th><\/tr> Masculine<\/td> der Lehrer (teacher)<\/td> des Lehrers<\/td><\/tr> Neuter<\/td> das Kind (child)<\/td> des Kindes<\/td><\/tr> Feminine<\/td> die Mutter (mother)<\/td> der Mutter<\/td><\/tr> Plural<\/td> die Kinder (children)<\/td> der Kinder<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n Gender<\/th> Noun<\/th> Genitive Form<\/th><\/tr> Masculine<\/td> ein Lehrer (a teacher)<\/td> eines Lehrers<\/td><\/tr> Neuter<\/td> ein Kind (a child)<\/td> eines Kindes<\/td><\/tr> Feminine<\/td> eine Mutter (a mother)<\/td> einer Mutter<\/td><\/tr> Plural<\/td> keine Kinder (no children)<\/td> keiner Kinder<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n \n
Dative Case – Dativ<\/h2>\n\n
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Gender<\/th> Definite Article<\/th> Indefinite Article<\/th><\/tr> Masculine<\/td> dem<\/td> einem<\/td><\/tr> Feminine<\/td> der<\/td> einer<\/td><\/tr> Neuter<\/td> dem<\/td> einem<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n \n
Accusative Case – Akkusativ<\/h2>\n\n
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Gender<\/th> Noun<\/th> Indefinite Article<\/th> Possessive Pronoun<\/th> Formal Possessive Pronoun<\/th> Negative Determiner<\/th><\/tr> Masculine<\/td> der Sch\u00fcler (student)<\/td> einen Sch\u00fcler<\/td> meinen Sch\u00fcler<\/td> Ihren Sch\u00fcler<\/td> keinen Sch\u00fcler<\/td><\/tr> Feminine<\/td> die Sch\u00fclerin (student)<\/td> eine Sch\u00fclerin<\/td> meine Sch\u00fclerin<\/td> Ihre Sch\u00fclerin<\/td> keine Sch\u00fclerin<\/td><\/tr> Neuter<\/td> das Kind (child)<\/td> ein Kind<\/td> mein Kind<\/td> Ihr Kind<\/td> kein Kind<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n Gender<\/th> Noun<\/th> Possessive Pronoun<\/th> Formal Possessive Pronoun<\/th> Negative Determiner<\/th><\/tr> Masculine<\/td> die Sch\u00fcler (students)<\/td> meine Sch\u00fcler<\/td> Ihre Sch\u00fcler<\/td> keine Sch\u00fcler<\/td><\/tr> Feminine<\/td> die Sch\u00fclerinnen (students)<\/td> meine Sch\u00fclerinnen<\/td> Ihre Sch\u00fclerinnen<\/td> keine Sch\u00fclerinnen<\/td><\/tr> Neuter<\/td> die Kinder (children)<\/td> meine Kinder<\/td> Ihre Kinder<\/td> keine Kinder<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n Articles in the accusative case – examples<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
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German Cases – Summary<\/h2>\n\n
Case<\/th> Definite Article\/Indefinite Article<\/th><\/tr> Nominative (1st case)<\/td> der Sch\u00fcler \/ ein Sch\u00fcler<\/td><\/tr> Dative (3rd case)<\/td> dem Sch\u00fcler \/ einem Sch\u00fcler<\/td><\/tr> Accusative (4th case)<\/td> den Sch\u00fcler \/ einen Sch\u00fcler<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n Case<\/th> Definite Article\/Indefinite Article<\/th><\/tr> Nominative (1st case)<\/td> die Sch\u00fclerin \/ eine Sch\u00fclerin<\/td><\/tr> Dative (3rd case)<\/td> der Sch\u00fclerin \/ einer Sch\u00fclerin<\/td><\/tr> Accusative (4th case)<\/td> die Sch\u00fclerin \/ eine Sch\u00fclerin<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n Case<\/th> Definite Article\/Indefinite Article<\/th><\/tr> Nominative (1st case)<\/td> das Kind \/ ein Kind<\/td><\/tr> Dative (3rd case)<\/td> dem Kind \/ einem Kind<\/td><\/tr> Accusative (4th case)<\/td> das Kind \/ ein Kind<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n Case<\/th> Definite Article\/Indefinite Article<\/th><\/tr> Nominative (1st case)<\/td> die Kinder \/ meine Kinder<\/td><\/tr> Dative (3rd case)<\/td> den Kindern \/ meinen Kindern<\/td><\/tr> Accusative (4th case)<\/td> die Kinder \/ meine Kinder<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n