Basic German Grammar Topics
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German-Gender of Nouns4 Topics
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German-Nominative4 Topics
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German-Numbers4 Topics
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German-Adjectives4 Topics
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German-Personal Pronouns & the Verb sein4 Topics
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German-Regular Verbs in the Present Tense4 Topics
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German-Plural Formation4 Topics
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German-Haben and the Accusative Case4 Topics
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German-Word Order4 Topics
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German-Definite Articles4 Topics
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German-Indefinite Articles4 Topics
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German-Negation5 Topics
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German-Modal Verbs4 Topics
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German-Separable Prefix Verbs4 Topics
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German-Coordinating Conjunctions4 Topics
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German-Konjunktiv I4 Topics
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German-Possessive Pronouns4 Topics
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German Question Words4 Topics
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German-Present Perfect of Regular Verbs4 Topics
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German-Present Perfect of Irregular Verbs4 Topics
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German-Present Perfect of Mixed Verbs4 Topics
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German-Dative Case5 Topics
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German-Two Way Prepositions4 Topics
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German-Dative Prepositions4 Topics
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German-Conditionals4 Topics
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German-Future Tense4 Topics
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German-Dative Verbs4 Topics
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German-Simple Past Tense4 Topics
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German-Imperative4 Topics
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German-Comparative4 Topics
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German-Temporal Prepositions4 Topics
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German-Present Perfect Separable Prefix Verbs4 Topics
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German-Irregular Verbs4 Topics
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German-Present Perfect Inseparable Prefix Verbs4 Topics
Participants 257
Lesson-German Accusative Case and Haben
Stephen Sovenyhazy March 26, 2024
Understanding German cases is extremely important. The German accusative case is typically the second of the German Cases learned by students. German accusative case: mainly used for direct objects and objects of accusative prepositions. A direct object is the noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb (i.e. they are acted upon).
Example:
Die Frau füttert den Hund. / The woman feeds the dog.
The direct object can be identified by asking, “Who or what is being ‘verbed’?” For the above example we can ask: Who or what is being fed? The answer is “the dog”. Hence, the dog is the direct object of the sentence. It is in the accusative case.
The accusative case only affects masculine nouns: the definite article changes from “der” to “den.” The indefinite article “ein” (masculine) changes to “einen.” Feminine and neutral nouns do not change.
Examples:
Ich rieche den Kuchen. I smell the cake.
(“der Kuchen” is a masculine noun. In the accusative, “der” becomes “den”.)
Ich rieche die Blume. I smell the flower
(“die Blume” is a feminine noun. In the accusative it does not change.)
When a person is the direct object of a sentence, or when we use a personal pronoun to refer to a noun (ex.: I smell the cake. -> I smell it.), then we need use the accusative pronouns.
Examples:
Ich rufe ihn an.I call him. (“er” in the accusative changes to “ihn”.)
Wir lieben es.We love it. (“es” in the accusative remains “es”.)
Du nervst mich. You annoy me. (“ich” in the accusative changes to “mich”.)