Give and Take – The Accusative Case
Command Forms
geben – nehmen
geben (give)/es gibt (there is/are)
nehmen (take)/er nimmt (he takes)
In this lesson you’ll learn how to express in German the concepts of giving (geben) and taking (nehmen). This involves the grammatical elements known as the accusative case (the direct object case in German), irregular stem-changing verbs and the command forms (imperative).
If that sort of grammar terminology scares you, don’t worry. We’ll introduce it all in such a way that you’ll hardly feel a thing.
The important thing is that after studying this lesson, you’ll be able to express the important and useful concepts of giving and taking.
geben (give) – nehmen (take)
These two German verbs have something in common. See if you can find what it is by observing the following:
geben
ich gebe (I give), du gibst (you give)
er gibt (he gives), sie gibt (she gives)
wir geben (we give), sie geben (they give)
ich gebe (I give), du gibst (you give)
er gibt (he gives), sie gibt (she gives)
wir geben (we give), sie geben (they give)
nehmen
ich nehme (I take), du nimmst (you take)
er nimmt (he takes), sie nimmt (she takes)
wir nehmen (we take), sie nehmen (they take)
ich nehme (I take), du nimmst (you take)
er nimmt (he takes), sie nimmt (she takes)
wir nehmen (we take), sie nehmen (they take)
Now can you tell what essential change these two verbs have in common?
If you said that they both change from e to i in the same situations, then you’re right! (The verb nehmen also changes its spelling slightly, but the e-to-i change is what these two verbs have in common.) Both of these verbs belong to a class of German verbs known as “stem-changing” verbs.
In the infinitive form (ending in -en) they have an e in their stem, or base form. But when they are conjugated (used with a pronoun or noun in a sentence), the stem vowel changes under certain conditions from e to i: nehmen (infinitive) –> er nimmt (conjugated, 3rd person sing.);geben (infinitive) –> er gibt (conjugated, 3rd person sing.)
All stem-changing verbs only change their stem vowel in the singular. Most only change when used with er, sie, es (3rd person) and du (2nd person, familiar). Other e-to-i stem-changing verbs include: helfen/hilft (help), treffen/trifft (meet) and sprechen/spricht (speak).
Now study the chart below. It shows all the forms of the two verbs in the present tense—in English and German. In the example sentences, observe also how direct objects (the things you give or take) that are masculine (der) change to den or einen when they function as direct objects (rather than the subject). In the accusative (direct object) case, der is the only gender that has this change. Neuter (das), feminine (die) and plural nouns are unaffected.
| The STEM-CHANGING Verbs geben – nehmen |
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| The words me, us, them (mir, uns, ihnen) and so on in the sentences with geben are indirect objects in the dative case. You will learn more about the dative in a future lesson. For now, just learn these words as vocabulary. | |
| Englisch | Deutsch |
| geben | |
| there is/there are Today there are no apples. |
es gibt Heute gibt es keine Äpfel. |
| The expression es gibt (there is/are) always takes the accusative case: “Heute gibt es keinen Wind.” = “There is no wind today.” | |
| I give I give her the new ball. |
ich gebe Ich gebe ihr den neuen Ball. |
| you (fam.) give Are you giving him the money? |
du gibst Gibst du ihm das Geld? |
| he gives He gives me the green book. |
er gibt Er gibt mir das grüne Buch. |
| she gives She gives us a book. |
sie gibt Sie gibt uns ein Buch. |
| we give We aren’t giving them any money. |
wir geben Wir geben ihnen kein Geld. |
| you (pl.) give You (guys) give me a key. |
ihr gebt Ihr gebt mir einen Schlüssel. |
| they give They give him no opportunity. |
sie geben Sie geben ihm keine Gelegenheit. |
| you (formal) give Are you giving me the pencil? |
Sie geben Geben Sie mir den Bleistift? |
| nehmen | |
| I take I take the ball. |
ich nehme Ich nehme den Ball. |
| you (fam.) take Are you taking the money? |
du nimmst Nimmst du das Geld? |
| he takes He’s taking the green book. |
er nimmt Er nimmt das grüne Buch. |
| she takes She takes a book. |
sie nimmt Sie nimmt ein Buch. |
| we take We aren’t taking any money. |
wir nehmen Wir nehmen kein Geld. |
| you (pl.) take You (guys) take a key. |
ihr nehmt Ihr nehmt einen Schlüssel. |
| they take They take everything. |
sie nehmen Sie nehmen alles. |
| you (formal) take Are you taking the pencil? |
Sie nehmen Nehmen Sie den Bleistift? |
By their nature, these two verbs are often used in the imperative (command) form. Below you’ll find how to say things like “Give me the pen!” or “Take the money!” If you are talking to one person, the command will be different than if you are addressing two or more people. Note that, as usual, German makes a distinction between a formal Sie (sing. & pl.) command and a familiar du(sing.) or ihr (pl.) command. If you tell a child to give you something, the command will not be the same as when you are addressing an adult formally (Sie). If you are telling more than one child (ihr) to do something, that will also be a different command than if you are only addressing one child (du). The du command form of most verbs is almost always the normal du form of the verb minus the -st ending. (Du nimmst das Buch. – Nimm das Buch!) Study the chart below.
| IMPERATIVE Command Forms for geben – nehmen |
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| The German imperative verb forms vary according to whom you are commanding or telling to do something. Each form of YOU in German (du, ihr, Sie) has its own command form. Note that only the Sie command includes the pronoun in the command! The du and ihr commands do not usually include du or ihr. | |
| Englisch | Deutsch |
| geben | |
| Give me the (ballpoint) pen! (Sie) | Geben Sie mir den Kuli! |
| Give me the (ballpoint) pen! (du) | Gib mir den Kuli! |
| Give me the (ballpoint) pen! (ihr) | Gebt mir den Kuli! |
| nehmen | |
| Take the (ballpoint) pen! (Sie) | Nehmen Sie den Kuli! |
| Take the (ballpoint) pen! (du) | Nimm den Kuli! |
| Take the (ballpoint) pen! (ihr) | Nehmt den Kuli! |