German Cases Simply Explained: A Guide to German Cases [Grammar Guide]

Welcome to our brief guide to the German case system. Here, we will briefly introduce the German cases: the nominative case, the accusative case, the dative case, and the genitive case.

We will explain what German cases are, give examples of each, and provide guidance to help you to identify which German case to use and when.

By the end of this guide to German cases, you will understand gendered nouns and articles and how they interact with cases to form sentences. Moreover, we will look at prepositions commonly used in each German case.

If you're just at the beginning of your German learning journey this might all sound overwhelming, but stay with us and we will guide you through this German grammar point until you are confident and comfortable with the four German cases.

Related: The Best Way to Learn German as a Beginner

Introduction To German Grammar: German Cases

These four German cases play distinct roles within the German language, and it is important that people learning German can use and understand them.

Understanding the cases is an essential factor when you are learning to speak German as they will determine the meaning of your sentences and inform your listening comprehension.

Moreover, they are essential for using and understanding written German. You cannot construct a German sentence without using the case system.

German Nouns

This means every noun (person, place or thing), such as pilot, hospital and sandwich, has a gender and must have the correct corresponding article.

However, there are several ways to say "the" (definite article) and "a" (indefinite article) in German, depending on which case is being used.

To use the correct definite and indefinite articles and German cases, you must be able to identify when a noun is the subject, direct object, indirect object or possessive noun in a sentence.

All German nouns are capitalized, not only proper nouns.

Prepositions in German

Prepositions are words that express the role played by the nouns in a sentence.

For example:

• The cup is on the table/ She falls into the pool/ The baby is with his dad

Unfortunately, in German, they are a little complex due to the four German cases.

When we use a preposition, the noun or pronoun that follows must be in the case associated with that preposition.

The Nominative Case: The Subject

The definite and indefinite articles in the nominative case are in their most basic form:

• Masculine "the"/ "a" - der/ ein
• Feminine "the"/ "a" - die/ eine
• Neuter "the"/ "a" - das/ ein
• Plural "the" - die

Definite articles translate as "the" ("der", "die" and "das").

Indefinite articles, the "ein" words, translate to "a(n)". There is no plural nominative indefinite article listed, as we do not say "a puppies", for example.

Remember that articles change as we move through the German cases. We will see this in more detail below.

When using the nominative case, the subject of the sentence, such as the woman (die Frau), the man (der Mann) or the house (das Haus), takes the article of the correct gender as it appears in the nominative case. Look at the following examples sentences:

• Eine/ Die Frau lebt in Deutschland - A/ the woman lives in Germany
• The woman ("die Frau") is the subject of this sentence in the nominative case.
• Ein/ Der Mann arbeitet im Laden - A/ the man works in the store
• Ein/ Das Haus ist in Berlin - A/ the house is in Berlin

While masculine and neuter nouns both use “ein” in the nominative case, and feminine and plural nouns both use “die”, you will be able to differentiate the meaning from the noun endings.

For example:

• Die Frau - The woman
• Die Frauen - The women

The Accusative Case: The Direct Object

Only the masculine articles change in the accusative case, while all other articles remain the same:

• Masculine "the"/ "a" - den, einen
• Feminine "the"/ "a" die, eine
• Neuter "the"/ "a" das, ein
• Plural "the" die

In the sentence "the child eats an apple", the child is the subject and the apple is the direct object.

The apple is the thing that the subject acts upon. Let's take this example sentence:

• Das Kind isst einen Apfel

The apple ("den Apfel") is the direct object.

It is a singular and masculine noun and is in the accusative case.

Therefore, it takes the article einen in this sentence (or den for "the").

Direct objects work slightly different in German than in English, in that they can move around the verb and still mean the same thing.

This is because the case will determine which noun is the subject and which is the direct object. In English, this is determined by the word order.

For example, in English "the dog loves the cat" has a different meaning than "the cat loves the dog".

However, in German, we can switch the nouns and it will still mean "the dog loves the cat".

• Der Hund liebt die Katze = Die Katze liebt der Hund

The dog is the subject of this sentence in the nominative case ("der Hund"), regardless of the word order.

If you want to say “the cat loves the dog”, you would say:

Die Katze liebt den Hund

The dog is the direct object of this sentence in the accusative case ("den Hund").

Common Accusative Prepositions

• Durch - Through
• Ohne - Without
• Gegen - Against
• Für - For
• Um - Around

So, when you use one of these prepositions, the noun's article must also be in the accusative case.

For example:

• Ich laufe durch den Park - I run through the park
• Wir hüpfen um einen Baum herum- We skip around a tree

The Dative Case: The Indirect Object

As with the accusative case, word order in the dative case is flexible. As long as you use the correct case, the meaning is clear.

Articles in the dative case look like this:

• Masculine "to the"/ "to a" - dem/ einem
• Feminine "to the"/ "to a" - der/ einer
• Neuter "to the"/ "to a" - dem/ einem
• Plural "to the" - den

This is the first time we have seen the definite article change for plural nouns.

The dative plural form has an "n" ending. Some people find the dative endings challenging, however, the masculine and neuter articles are the same, which helps.

• Ich gebe dem Mann ein Buch - I give the man a book

The man is the indirect object of this sentence in the dative case, so "der Mann" becomes "dem Mann".

• Sie kauft ihm ein Geschenk - She gives him a present

"Him" (ihm) is the indirect object of this sentence. See the section on personal pronouns below. These, too, are different across the German cases.

Common Dative Prepositions

• Aus - From/out of
• Außer - Except for/ besides
• Bei - At/ near/ with
• Mit - With/by
• Nach - After/ to
• Seit - Since (time)/ for
• Von - By/ from
• Zu - At/ to

For example:

• Sie kommt aus der Türkei - She comes from Turkey
• Wir haben einen Brief von ihnen bekommen - We got a letter from them

You might recognise the dative preposition "von" from German surnames.

It means "from" and traditionally indicated nobility, like the English "of".

For instance, Anne of Cleves (Anna von Kleve, in German).

Common Accusative or Dative Prepositions

• An - At/ alongside
• Auf - On/ on top of
• Hinter - Behind
• In - In
• Neben - Beside/ next to
• Über - Over
• Unter - Under
• Vor - In front of
• Zwischen - Between

When you use a verb of movement, such as gehen (to go) or laufen (to run), and the preposition refers to a destination, you must use the accusative case.

For example:

• Wir gehen heute in die Schule - We are going to school today

When a static verb is used, like sein (to be) or arbeiten (to work) and the preposition refers to a location, you must use the dative case.

• Ist es unter der Platte? - Is it under the plate?

Understanding this grammar rule will ensure you use the correct case with each of these two-way prepositions.

The Genitive Case: The Possessive

For instance "the man's book".

The German genitive case makes it easy by only using – es and – er endings.

Masculine and neuter nouns and pronouns take the – es ending, while plural and feminine nouns and pronouns use the – er ending.

• Masculine "the"/ "a" - des, eines
• Feminine "the"/ "a" - der, einer
• Neuter "the"/ "a" - des, eines
• Plural "the" - der

For example:

• Das Buch des Mannes - The man's book
• Die Handtasche einer Frau - A woman's purse

The noun in the genitive case follows the noun that it modifies.

In the first example, "the man" is the noun in the genitive case and it follows "the book".

The man modifies the book as it denotes ownership of the book.

Common Genitive Prepositions

Recently, the German genitive case is being used less frequently because often the dative case can be used instead.

However, some genitive prepositions are useful in everyday speech. Here are some examples:

• Anstatt/statt - Instead of
• Außerhalb - Outside of
• Innerhalb - Inside of
• Trotz - Despite
• Während - During
• Wegen - Because of
  
  For example:
• Trotz des Schnees gehen wir zur Party - Despite the snow, we are going to the party
• Anstatt der Schuhe habe ich die Stiefel gekauft - Instead of shoes, I bought the boots

German Cases and Personal Pronouns

Another aspect of German cases that we will touch on lightly is personal pronouns and how they change depending on which case is being used.

In English, we have personal pronouns that indicate when someone is the subject of the sentence (I, you, he, she, it, we, they).

Moreover, there are personal pronouns for when the person is not the subject of the sentence (me, you, him, her, it, us, them).

It can be tough for native English speakers to know when to use accusative or dative case pronouns, as they both translate the same in English (me, you, him, her, it, us, them). This is a separate lesson for another day!

German Verbs and Adjectives

There are also certain verbs that need to use specific cases in German, for instance, sagen (“to say” is always a dative verb. Moreover, German adjectives will change their endings depending on the case being used.

Learn The German Language At Home

This quick guide to the German cases is just a starting point from which you can build your understanding of the German language in more detail.

A fun way to immerse yourself in German and speed up the process of learning German cases and vocabulary is streaming German TV on Lingopie.

This is a great platform designed to help language learners develop their foreign language skills and comprehension through binge-watching entertaining shows.

You can test your knowledge of the four cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) by streaming German TV and listening for their uses.

Hearing spoken language is the perfect way to learn grammar authentically.

If you want tips on what to watch head over to our 10 German Shows on Netflix to Help You Learn German and Top 20 German Movies and Series to Learn German articles and start binge watching!

Summing Up: A Guide to German Cases

This has been a brief guide to understanding German cases.

We have learned that word order in German is not as important as in English, and the German cases determine the subject and (in)direct object of a sentence instead.

On top of this, we have seen some common prepositions that are used in each of the German cases and touched on personal pronouns.

For more resources and inspiration to learn German cases, vocab and grammar, head over to Lingopie and start binge-watching German language shows.