Case #1 - Nominative Case What is the subject of a sentence? The subject of a sentence is the person or thing that is “doing” the verb. To find the subject, look for the verb and ask “Who or what is doing?” (substitute the verb for “doing” -- Who or what is singing? Who or what is sleeping?) Subjects are always in the NOMINATIVE CASE.

The Nominative Case Pauley’s diction: The subject of a clause is said to be in the “nominative case.” Example: Der Junge geht (The boy (= the SUBJECT in the nominative case) is going.)

Accusative Case What is the direct object of a sentence? The direct object receives the action of the verb. To find the direct object, look for the verb and ask “Who or what is being verbed?” (as in Who or what is being kicked? Who or what is being read?) Direct objects take the ACCUSATIVE CASE.

Verb Types The part of the clause that links the subject to an object is the VERB. Verbs that take an object are called TRANSITIVE verbs. Example: He opened the door. Not all verbs however can take an object. Verbs that do not take an object are called INTRANSITIVE verbs. Example: They arrived (i.e. you cannot “arrive” something!).

The Accusative Case The direct object in a clause is the noun or pronoun that is affected “directly” by the subject of the verb. The direct object is in the accusative case. Example: “Der Junge schreibt den/einen Brief” (The boy is writing the/a letter) (= the DIRECT OBJECT in the accusative case)

Side Note: The Accusative Case in English In English there are no special case endings for the accusative - the / a remain the same in both the nominative and accusative cases. English merely retains some nominative pronouns: I (acc. me), we (acc. us) etc. The direct object can however be easily identified by its position in the clause - it will always come after the subject.

The Accusative Case in German In German objects can precede or follow the subject. It is the case endings and the verb endings that tell us which case is which. Example: Der Hund sieht die Katzen. (The dog sees the cats.) Den Hund sieht die Katzen. (The cats sees the dog.)

The direct object answers the questions: Was (what)? und Wen (whom)? NOTE: Who = wer

Review The woman sees the girl. The woman is the subject and is nominative. The girl is the direct object and is accusative. The girl sees the woman. The girl is the subject and is nominative. The woman is the direct object and is accusative. Barack Obama is the president. Barack is the subject and is nominative. The President is ALSO nominative because it follows “to be” (is).

More review… They invited me. Paul hit the ball. Have you seen a Shakespeare play? He plays the piano.

Compare the nominative to the accusative case. Subject Direct Object Nominative der die das Accusative den die das den Compare the nominative to the accusative case.

meinen, deinen, Ihren, ihren seinen/ihren/seinen unsren euren masculine feminine neuter plural der ein kein die eine keine das ein kein die ---- keine Nominative den einen keinen die eine keine das ein kein die ---- keine Accusative the only difference meinen, deinen, Ihren, ihren seinen/ihren/seinen unsren euren Accusative Possessive Articles (later)

diesen, jeden, welchen, manchen, solchen masculine feminine neuter plural der ein kein die eine keine das ein kein die ---- keine Nominative den einen keinen die eine keine das ein kein die ---- keine Accusative other “der-words” Accusative Case diesen, jeden, welchen, manchen, solchen

‘haben’ Accusative Case – TIP #1 Den Die Das “direct object”. When the subject is paired with a verb such as , the sentence must have a to be complete. ‘haben’ “direct object”. Man hat etwas. One has something.

Accusative Case – TIP #1 By contrast, nouns following the verb SEIN will ALWAYS take the nominative case. Here is a man. Here is the man. Hier ist ein Mann. Hier ist der Mann.

Remember, the direct object answers the questions: Was? und Wen?

Das Kind hat eine Gitarre.

Der Mann hat den Stuhl. Masculine noun “Stuhl” is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case.

Was macht er? Er repariert die Lampe. The subject is in the nominative case. Was macht er? Er repariert die Lampe. This is the direct object. It is in the accusative case.

Wen sehen diese Leute? Was sehen diese Leute? Sie sehen die Tänzers. Sie sehen ein Polospiel (den Sport).

Die Vögel (birds) hat ein Haus.

Mutter hat einen Geburtstag (birthday).

Dieser Seeräuber hat einen Schatz. Dieser findet den Schatz. der Schatz = treasure

Die Studentin macht die Hausaufgaben.

Was? Wen? Was hast du? Was spielst du? Was kaufst du? Was siehst du? Wen siehst du? Wen liebst du? Wen kennst du? Wen fragst du?

Der Mann küßt die Frau. Die Frau küßt der Mann. Wer küßt wen? The action is the same no matter what the word order. The man is performing the verb. “Der” is the nominative article for masculine nouns. It shows that the noun is the subject of the sentence. Wer küßt wen?

Die Frau küßt den Mann. Den Mann küßt die Frau. Wer küßt wen? The accusative article “Den” shows that the man is the direct object of the action. The woman is the performer of the verb in both sentences. The article “den” answers the question “wen?” Wer küßt wen?

Pronouns The nominative pronouns are: ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, Sie, sie.  The accusative pronouns are mich, dich, ihn, sie, es, uns, euch, Sie, sie

Du besuchst mich endlich wieder. Grüß dich! accusative case personal pronouns mich uns dich euch Sie Sie ihn/sie/es sie besuchen = visit

Sie liebt mich. Ich liebe sie. mich uns dich euch Sie Sie ihn/sie/es sie