German Case Forms Reference

Course Files Page  |   Language Home  |   USNA Home  |   Adjective Endings  |   Relative Pronouns
Cases |  Def |  Indef |  Adj |  Noun |  Pron

Main Functions of German Cases

• "Direct objects" of most verbs
• Both "direct" and "indirect" objects of the verbs fragen, kosten, lehren, nennen and a few others
• Objects of prepositions durch, für, gegen, ohne, um and a few others
• Objects of "two-way" prepositions an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen when expressing direction rather than location
• Time expressions
  • "accusative of definite time" vorige Woche 'last week', nächsten Dienstag 'next Tuesday';
  • "accusative of duration" Wir waren den ganzen Abend zu Hause. 'We were at home all evening."

Dative

• "Indirect objects" (recipient / beneficiary, often expressed in English by "to" or "for")
• "Direct objects" of verbs such as antworten, begegnen, danken, folgen, gefallen, gehören, helfen, schmecken, zuhören and many others
• Objects of the prepositions aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu and many others
• Objects of "two-way" prepositions an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen when expressing location rather than direction

Direct / indirect object is an English concept, not a German one.

It is more fruitful to think of objects as being either accusative or dative. A dative object is generally either a recipient / beneficiary of the action expressed by the verb, or else only somehow involved in it. The beneficiary relationship is often expressed by "to" or "for" in English.

Genitive

• Possession
• Object of genitive prepositions such as (an)statt, trotz, während, wegen, innerhalb / außerhalb, and many others (especially in formal style), as well as of some archaic verbs.
• Time expressions: "genitive of indefinite time" eines Tages

Als 'than, as' and wie 'like, as' govern no case.  Nouns and adjectives following them appear in the same case as the "standard" to which they are being compared:

Ich kann das viel besser als er.  'I can do that much better than he (colloquially him).' [standard in the nominative]

Mutti hat dich lieber als mich.  'Mom likes you better than me.' [standard in the accusative]

Similarly, the interrogative was für 'what kind' is caseless; function of the noun modified determines the case:

Was für ein Mensch bist du eigentlich? 'What kind of a person are you?' [nominative]
Was für einen Wagen hast du eigentlich? 'What kind of car do you have? [accusative]

Cases |  Def |  Indef |  Adj |  Noun |  Pron

Definite Articles & Demonstratives ('Which one?')

The/that/those, this/these, that/those, each, such, which...

Cases |  Def |  Indef |  Adj |  Noun |  Pron

Indefinite Articles & Possessives  ('Which one?')

A/an, no/not any, my, your, her, his, its, our, their 

Cases |  Def |  Indef |  Adj |  Noun |  Pron

Descriptive Adjectives ('What kind?')

Adjectives take endings whenever they precede the noun they modify (greater detail here):

1. Most frequent: "Weak" or "reduced" endings -e / -en, used whenever the adjective is preceded by an article or possessive with an ending

   -e all nominative singular | neuter and feminine accusative singular

   ---

   -en elsewhere = all plural | all dative + genitive | masculine accusative singular

   	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Plural
   Nominative	-e	-e	-e	-en
   Accusative	-en	-e	-e	-en
   Dative	-en	-en	-en	-en
   Genitive	-en	-en	-en	-en

2. Less frequent:  "Strong" or "Full" endings, similar to der, die, das, used unless the adjective is preceded by an article or possessive with an ending, i.e. either there is no article or possessive, or else there is an ein-word without an ending preceding the adjective.

   	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Plural
   Nominative	-er	-es	-e	-e
   Accusative	-en	-es	-e	-e
   Dative	-em	-em	-er	-en
   Genitive	-en *	-en*	-er	-er

   ^*Different from ending on der-words, which is -es

Cases |  Def |  Indef |  Adj |  Noun |  Pron

Nouns

1. Names add -s (no apostrophe!) in the genitive, regardless of gender or number; if the name already ends in an -s or -z, only an apostrophe is added. Martines Jacke, Hans' Handschuhe, Müllers Auto. Names of people precede the noun possessed, other names typically follow: die Zukunft Europas.

2. Other nouns add endings as follows (simplified for brevity):

• Dative Plural. All nouns must end in -n (unless the plural ending is -s); add one if necessary die Berge ~ in den Bergen, but die Autos ~ mit den Autos.
• Genitive Singular of Masculine and Neuter nouns. All non-weak nouns (see below) end in -s (add -es after -s, -z, -sch, and in formal style for all one-syllable nouns) des Wagens, des Tisches, des Mann(e)s
• Many masculine nouns referring to human beings (those ending in -ist, -ent, -e [many nationalities end in -e], plus some others) are called weak nouns. They end in -n for all combinations of case and number except nominative singular:

  Singular Plural der Student die Studenten den Studenten die Studenten dem Studenten den Studenten des Studenten (no -s!) der Studenten

  Singular Plural der Herr die Herren den Herrn die Herren dem Herrn den Herren des Herrn (no -s!) der Herren

  Singular Plural der Schotte die Schotten den Schotten die Schotten dem Schotten den Schotten des Schotten (no -s!) der Schotten

• Masculine nouns which end in -e and do not refer to human beings end in -ns in the genitive singular and in -n for all other combinations of case and number except nominative singular:

  Singular Plural der Name die Namen den Namen die Namen dem Namen den Namen des Namens der Namen

• Consequently, nouns have up to four distinct forms as follows:

  Class of Nouns	# of Forms	Distribution
  Feminine	2 or 3	Singular forms are like the dictionary entry (No genitive ending!) The plural form is always different from the singular Dative plural adds -n if necessary
  Masculine and Neuter (except weak)	2 - 4	Singular forms except genitive are like dictionary entry Genitive adds -(e)s Plural adds ending unless the noun ends in -en, -el, -er Dative plural adds -n if necessary
  Weak Masculine referring to humans	2	Nominative singular is like dictionary entry All other singular and all plural forms add -(e)n
  Weak Masculine referring to things	3	Nominative singular is like dictionary entry Genitive singular adds -ns Other singular and all plural forms add -n

3. Dictionaries cite the nominative singular forms of nouns, and use conventions to help you derive the other forms. Typically each noun entry is followed by its gender, then by the genitive singular ending, then by the nominative plural ending. A "-" with an umlaut means to umlaut the preceding full vowel, and by itself "-" means the noun takes no ending in the corresponding form.

Cases |  Def |  Indef |  Adj |  Noun |  Pron

Personal Pronouns

*The possessive pronouns have endings which reflect the case, gender and number of the "noun possessed."
See Indefinite Articles above.

Interrogative Pronouns

Notes

1. As in English, there are no special interrogative forms for feminine or plural.
2. If the person asked about if the object of a preposition, the preposition must be brought to the front of the sentence too, as in formal English:

   Auf wen wartest du?	'For whom are you waiting?'
   	(Conversational English: 'Who are you waiting for?')

3. These interrogative pronouns are used for questions (direct and indirect) only. Relative Pronouns explained here.

Course Files Page  |   Language Home  |   USNA Home
Top of Document  |   Adjective Endings  |   Relative Pronouns
Cases |  Def |  Indef |  Adj |  Noun |  Pron