The accusative case requires a declensional change with masculine nouns and most pronouns. Compare the differences between the nominative case and the accusative case with a masculine noun, a feminine noun, a neuter noun, and a plural noun with a definite article (der, die, das), an indefinite article (ein, eine), and kein.
nominative
masculine feminine neuter plural
der Hund die Katze das Buch die Bilder (dog, cat, book, pictures)
ein Hund eine Katze ein Buch Bilder
kein Hund keine Katze kein Buch keine Bilder
accusative
masculine feminine neuter plural
den Hund die Katze das Buch die Bilder
einen Hund eine Katze ein Buch Bilder
keinen Hund keine Katze kein Buch keine Bilder
Most pronouns make a change from the nominative case to the accusative case.
nominative accusative
ich mich I, me
du dich you, you
er ihn he, him
sie s. sie s. she, her
es es it, it
wir uns we, us
ihr euch you, you (plural informal)
Sie Sie you, you (singular or plural formal)
sie pl. sie pl. they, them
niemand niemand/niemanden no one
jemand jemand/jemanden someone
The accusative case in German has three primary functions:
1. It identifies the direct object in a sentence.
2. It identifies the object of an accusative preposition.
3. It identifies certain time expressions.
Direct objects
Direct objects in English and German are identical. In English, you can ask whom or what of the verb in the sentence. The answer will be the direct object. It works the same way in German.
Mein Vater besucht einen Freund. My father visits a friend.
(Whom does my father visit?) The direct object is einen Freund.
Er lernt Deutsch. He is learning German.
(What is he learning?) The direct object is Deutsch.
Let’s look at a variety of sample sentences that contain accusative pronouns.
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Kennst du mich nicht?
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Don’t you know me?
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| Niemand kann dich verstehen. |
No one can understand you.
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| Der Lehrer tadelt ihn. |
The teacher criticizes him.
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| Herr Bauer hat sie gegrüsst. |
Mr. Bauer said hello to her.
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| Meine Schwester hängt es an die Wand. |
My sister hangs it on the wall.
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| Unsere Eltern lieben uns sehr. |
Our parents love us a lot.
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| Eure Mutter hat euch gut erzogen. |
Your mother has raised you well.
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| Professor Schmidt wird Sie jetzt prüfen. |
Professor Schmidt will quiz you now.
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| Wer hat sie gekauft? |
Who bought them?
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Accusative prepositions
Also use the accusative case with noun or pronoun objects of accusative prepositions. The accusative prepositions are:
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bis
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till, until, as far as
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durch
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through, across
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entlang
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along(side), down (the middle)
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für
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for
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gegen
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against
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ohne
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without
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um
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around, at (time on a clock)
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wider
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against, contrary to (usually poetical)
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The preposition bis is never followed by an article or other determiner. Therefore, it tends to be used with proper nouns. In all other instances, bis combines with other prepositions. For example, with proper nouns:
Wir fahren nur bis Goslar. We’re only traveling as far as Goslar.
Ich bleibe bis nächsten Freitag. I’m staying until next Friday.
Compare with bis combined with other prepositions:
Sie spazieren bis zum Stadtpark. They’re strolling as far as the city park.
Ich ging mit ihr bis an das Ende der I went with her up to the end of the street.
Straße.
Der Weg führte bis ins Tal. The lane led as far as the valley.
The preposition entlang is also a special case. It always follows the object in the accusative prepositional phrase.
Die Feiernden gingen die Straße The revelers went down the street.
entlang.
Dieser Weg führt den Bach entlang. This path goes along the brook.
Entlang is sometimes combined with the preposition an. For example:
Dieser Weg führt am Fluss entlang. This path goes along the river.
Let’s look at some sample sentences with the other accusative prepositions.
Ein Mann schwimmt durch den Fluss. A man is swimming across the river.
Ich habe ein Geschenk für dich. I have a gift for you.
Der Junge versucht gegen den Strom The boy is trying to swim against the
zu schwimmen. current.
Ich kann nicht ohne sie leben. I can’t live without her.
Die Ernte ist wider alles Erwarten The harvest was good contrary to all
gut gewesen. expectations.
Die Planeten bewegen sich um die The planets move around the sun.
Sonne.
When a pronoun that refers to an inanimate object is used in a prepositional phrase, a prepositional adverb is formed in place of the preposition followed by the pronoun.
For example:
prepositional adverbs
(für) + ihn = dafür for it
(durch) + sie = dadurch through it
(um) + es = darum around it
If the preposition begins with a vowel, the letter r is added to the prefix, for example, da-:
darum.
Expressions of time
Adverbial phrases that express time and tell when something occurs at a particular point in time appear in the accusative case.
Ich habe sie letzte Woche besucht. I visited them last week.
Er wird nächsten Sonntag He’ll drop by next Sunday.
vorbeikommen.
If the adverbial phrase describes a longer period of time, the accusative case is used again, but the word lang is often placed at the end of the adverbial phrase. The English translation of such a phrase often begins with for.
Wir blieben einen Monat (lang) We stayed in Switzerland for a month.
in der Schweiz.
Der Kranke muss die ganze Woche The patient has to stay in bed the whole week.
(lang) im Bett liegen.
Wer and was
The interrogative pronouns wer and was become wen and was in the accusative case. Both can be used as direct objects, but only wen can follow a preposition as you will see later. Let’s look at some examples with direct objects.
direct objects
Wen siehst du da? Whom do you see there?
Was haben Sie gefunden? What did you find?
As pointed out earlier, wer and was are affected by prepositions. Take special note of the pronoun was, which forms a prepositional adverb.
accusative prepositions
Für wen ist dieser Brief? For whom is this letter?
Gegen wen haben sie gekämpft? Against whom did they fight?
prepositional adverbs
(für) + was = wofür? for what?
(durch) + was = wodurch? through what?
If the preposition begins with a vowel, the letter r is added to the prefix,
for example, wo-: worum (around what).