A1 · Section 8

The Accusative

The case of the direct object: den and einen and keinen in the masculine singular, the nouns that take -en with them, the accusative of every personal pronoun, wen against wer, uns and euch and sich for one another, the pronouns that take no ending against welch- which does, and the three verbs that take no accusative at all.

The accusative marks the direct object

77.German marks the part a noun plays in its sentence by case. The accusative is the case of the direct object — the person or thing the action of the verb lands on.

Ich kaufe den Apfel.: I am buying the apple.
Der Mann liest das Buch.: The man is reading the book.
Wir suchen die Frau.: We are looking for the woman.

[1] The inventory's name for this element of the sentence is the Akkusativergänzung.

The definite article in the accusative

78.der becomes den in the accusative. The feminine die, the neuter das and the plural die are the same in both cases, so the masculine singular is the only place the accusative and the nominative differ.

Der Mann kauft den Stuhl.: The man is buying the chair. — Masculine: *der* becomes *den*.
Der Mann kauft die Katze.: The man is buying the cat. — Feminine: unchanged.
Der Mann kauft das Auto.: The man is buying the car.
Der Mann kauft die Bücher.: The man is buying the books.

The definite article
	nominative	accusative
masculine	der Mann	den Mann
feminine	die Frau	die Frau
neuter	das Kind	das Kind
plural	die Kinder	die Kinder

ein and kein in the accusative

79.ein becomes einen and kein becomes keinen before a masculine singular. The feminine, neuter and plural forms are the same as in the nominative.

Ich kaufe einen Apfel.: I am buying an apple.
Ich kaufe eine Katze.: I am buying a cat.
Ich habe kein Auto.: I have no car.
Ich habe keine Bücher.: I have no books.

ein and kein
	nominative	accusative
masculine	ein / kein Mann	einen / keinen Mann
feminine	eine / keine Frau	eine / keine Frau
neuter	ein / kein Kind	ein / kein Kind
plural	keine Kinder	keine Kinder

ein has no plural (¶50); kein has one.

The masculine nouns that take -en

80.A group of masculine nouns adds -n or -en in every case but the nominative singular. In these the accusative changes the noun as well as its article.

Ich kenne den Studenten.: I know the student. — *der Student*, accusative *den Studenten*.
Wir fragen den Menschen.: We are asking the person.
Sie sucht den Jungen.: She is looking for the boy.
Ich sehe den Herrn.: I see the gentleman.

[1] der Herr takes -n in the singular and -en in the plural: den Herrn, die Herren.

The personal pronouns in the accusative

81.Every personal pronoun has an accusative form of its own, so here the change is not confined to the masculine.

Kennst du mich?: Do you know me?
Ich sehe ihn.: I see him.
Wir besuchen euch.: We are visiting you.
Sie fragt uns.: She is asking us.

The personal pronouns
	nominative	accusative
1 sg.	ich	mich
2 sg.	du	dich
3 sg. m.	er	ihn
3 sg. f.	sie	sie
3 sg. n.	es	es
1 pl.	wir	uns
2 pl.	ihr	euch
3 pl.	sie	sie
polite	Sie	Sie

wen

82.wen asks after a person in the accusative, where wer asks after a person in the nominative (¶71). was is the same word in both cases.

Wer sieht den Mann?: Who sees the man? — *wer* is the subject: it does the seeing.
Wen sieht der Mann?: Whom does the man see? — *wen* is the object: it is seen.
Was kaufst du?: What are you buying?

uns, euch and sich as reciprocal pronouns

83.uns, euch and sich also stand where two or more people do something to one another. sich serves the third person in both numbers and the polite Sie.

Wir sehen uns morgen.: We are seeing each other tomorrow.
Kennt ihr euch?: Do you know each other?
Sie treffen sich hier.: They are meeting each other here.

etwas, nichts, alles and mehr

84.etwas, nichts, alles and mehr take no ending. Each stands in the accusative in the form it has in the nominative.

Ich kaufe etwas.: I am buying something.
Er sagt nichts.: He is saying nothing.
Sie weiß alles.: She knows everything.
Wir brauchen mehr Zeit.: We need more time.

welch-

85.welch- declines like the definite article, and so takes -en before a masculine singular in the accusative.

Welchen Apfel nimmst du?: Which apple are you taking?
Welche Katze suchst du?: Which cat are you looking for?
Welches Buch liest du?: Which book are you reading?

sein, werden and bleiben take no accusative

86.sein, werden and bleiben are followed by a complement in the nominative rather than by an accusative object (¶67). A profession after sein stands with no article at all (¶45).

Das ist ein Apfel.: That is an apple. — Nominative *ein*, not *einen*.
Das Kind wird ein Mann.: The child is becoming a man.
Er ist Lehrer.: He is a teacher. — No article at all with the profession.

Prepositions that fix the accusative

87.A preposition fixes the case of the noun that follows it. für and ohne fix the accusative.

Das Buch ist für den Mann.: The book is for the man.
Er kommt ohne das Auto.: He is coming without the car.
Sie arbeitet für eine Ärztin.: She works for a doctor.

[1] durch, gegen, um, entlang, wider and bis govern the accusative as well, and are taken up with the prepositions.
[2] Nine further prepositions govern the accusative for a movement towards something and the dative for a position at it.

A measure stands in the accusative

88.A price, a weight, a distance or a height stands in the accusative, with no preposition in front of it.

Das Buch kostet einen Euro.: The book costs one euro.
Er ist einen Meter groß.: He is one metre tall.

[1] This is why Was kostet die Fahrkarte? has was in the accusative: the price is a measure, and die Fahrkarte is the subject the verb agrees with.

Vocabulary

Bruder: brother · noun; der Bruder, den Bruder, dem Bruder, des Bruders, die Brüder; Plural with the Umlaut alone (¶35).
Mensch: person, human being · noun; der Mensch, den Menschen, dem Menschen, des Menschen, die Menschen; A weak masculine: **-en** in every case but the nominative singular (¶80).
Junge: boy · noun; der Junge, den Jungen, dem Jungen, des Jungen, die Jungen; A weak masculine (¶80).
Herr: gentleman, Mr · noun; der Herr, den Herrn, dem Herrn, des Herrn, die Herren; A weak masculine with **-n** in the singular and **-en** in the plural (¶80).
Euro: euro · noun; der Euro, den Euro, dem Euro, des Euro, des Euros, die Euro; After a numeral the plural is *die Euro*: *drei Euro*.
Bahnhof: station · noun; der Bahnhof, den Bahnhof, dem Bahnhof, des Bahnhofs, die Bahnhöfe; Plural with the Umlaut and **-e** (¶37).
Brot: bread · noun; das Brot, das Brot, dem Brot, des Brotes, die Brote
Kuchen: cake · noun; der Kuchen, den Kuchen, dem Kuchen, des Kuchens, die Kuchen; Plural without a change (¶34).
kennen: to know, be acquainted with · verb; kennst, kennt
fragen: to ask · verb; fragst, fragt
nehmen: to take · verb; nimmst, nimmt; The stem vowel changes in the second and third person singular (¶61).
sehen: to see · verb; siehst, sieht; The stem vowel changes in the second and third person singular (¶61).
suchen: to look for · verb; suchst, sucht
brauchen: to need · verb; brauchst, braucht
trinken: to drink · verb; trinkst, trinkt
treffen: to meet · verb; triffst, trifft; The stem vowel changes in the second and third person singular (¶61).
geben: to give · verb; gibst, gibt; *es gibt* — *there is, there are* — takes an accusative object and does not change for number: *Es gibt hier einen Bahnhof*, *Es gibt keine Äpfel*.
wen: whom · pronoun; The accusative of *wer* (¶82).
etwas: something · pronoun; Takes no ending (¶84).
nichts: nothing · pronoun; Takes no ending (¶84).
alles: everything · pronoun; Takes no ending (¶84).
mehr: more · pronoun; Takes no ending (¶84).
welcher: which · pronoun; Declines like the definite article: accusative *welchen, welche, welches* (¶85).
für: for · preposition; Fixes the accusative (¶87).
ohne: without · preposition; Fixes the accusative (¶87).

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