Cases in German. Cases play the role of determining the positions of components in a sentence and their meanings. Accurately identifying cases is a prerequisite for more advanced grammatical structures.
- Kasus - What is a case?
Cases play the role of identifying the positions of components in a sentence and their meanings. Accurately identifying cases is a prerequisite for more advanced grammatical structures.
- Case forms in German
As you already know, in German there are 3 genders: der, die, das and 4 cases: Akkusativ, Nominativ, Dativ and Genitiv.
So how do we distinguish these cases in a sentence and what are their roles? Let's explore this together.
2.1 The Nominativ case (Case 1)
Case 1 is simply understood as a noun or noun phrase and serves as the subject of the sentence, the main agent acting upon the object.
VD: Sie liebt ihn. (Sie here serves as the subject, the agent acting directly on the context)
Das ist mein Buch. (Mein Buch is a noun, serving as the subject of the sentence)
2.2 The Genitiv case (Case 2):
Case 2, also called Genitiv, is used to describe things or matters belonging to someone or something. Case 2 is used to answer the question Wessen?
VD1: Wessen Stift ist das? Das ist meiner Schwester. (That is my sister's pen)
meiner Schwester serves as the possessive case in the sentence; the pen belongs to my sister, so the noun "my sister" is declined in Case 2.
VD2: Das Bein des Hundes ist verletzt. (The dog's leg is injured)
Similarly, in this sentence the leg belongs to the dog, so the noun "dog" must be declined in Case 2.
How to use Genitiv with different types of articles:
| Der | Die | Das | Die (Plural) |
Definite article (bestimmter Artikel) | des | der | des | der |
Indefinite article (unbestimmter Artikel) | eines | einer | eines | - |
Possessive article (possessiver Artikel) | seines | seiner | seines | seiner |
Negative article (negativer Artikel) | keines | keiner |
2.3+ 2.4: Dative case (Cách 3) and Accusative case (Cách 4):
Case 3 (Dativ) | Case 4 (Akkusativ) |
Acts as the indirect object in a sentence, receiving the effect of the subject. Dativ is used to answer the questions Wem? (to whom?, toward whom?, belonging to whom?) and Wo? Example: Diese Tasche gehört mir. (This bag belongs to me.) In this sentence, mir acts as the object, receiving the effect of the subject Sie. mir complements the subject and verb, through which we learn: Who does this bag belong to? | Acts as the direct object in a sentence, receiving the direct effect of the subject, and modifying the verb in the sentence. However, Akkusativ is used more frequently than Dativ, because the majority of verbs act directly on the object. Akkusativ is used to answer the questions Wen? and Wohin? Example: Ich habe dir ein Buch geschenkt. (Yesterday I gave you a book.) dir acts as the object, directly affected by the subject Ich, while dir also complements the subject and the verb schenken. This allows us to understand: Who is this book being given to? Who is the recipient? |
Prepositions used with Dativ: mit, nach, bei, von, zu, sei, gegenüber, dank,... | Prepositions used with Akkusativ: ohne, durch, für, gehen, um, bis... |
Use Dativ when referring to the fixed position of an object with the prepositions an, auf, in, vor, neben, hinter, unter, über, zwischen. VD: Das Bild liegt auf dem Tisch. (The picture is lying on the table.) The table is a fixed position and no action affects that position. | Use Akkusativ when referring to the non-fixed position of an object with the prepositions an, auf, in, vor, neben, hinter, unter, über, zwischen. VD: Ich stellte meine Tasche auf dem Tisch. (I placed my bag on the table.) |
Knowledge test
Cases in German
- 1.
Meine Mutter hat eine Katze. eine Katze được chia ở:
- 2.
Dieses Buch gehört meinem Bruder. meinem Bruder được chia ở: