The Four Cases — Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ, Genitiv

The German case system is one of the most important grammar concepts for GCSE. Cases change the form of articles, pronouns and adjectives depending on the grammatical function of a noun in a sentence. This lesson explains all four cases clearly with examples and practice patterns.

1. What Are Cases?

Cases tell you the role a noun plays in a sentence:

Case	Role	Question	Example
Nominativ (Nom.)	Subject	Wer? / Was? (Who? / What?)	Der Hund ist groß.
Akkusativ (Akk.)	Direct object	Wen? / Was? (Whom? / What?)	Ich sehe den Hund.
Dativ (Dat.)	Indirect object	Wem? (To whom?)	Ich gebe dem Hund einen Knochen.
Genitiv (Gen.)	Possession	Wessen? (Whose?)	Das ist das Haus des Mannes.

2. Article Changes by Case

Definite Articles (der/die/das)

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominativ	der	die	das	die
Akkusativ	den	die	das	die
Dativ	dem	der	dem	den (+n)
Genitiv	des (+s/es)	der	des (+s/es)	der

Indefinite Articles (ein/eine)

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominativ	ein	eine	ein
Akkusativ	einen	eine	ein
Dativ	einem	einer	einem
Genitiv	eines (+s/es)	einer	eines (+s/es)

graph TD
    A[German Cases] --> B["Nominativ<br/>Subject<br/>Wer? Was?"]
    A --> C["Akkusativ<br/>Direct Object<br/>Wen? Was?"]
    A --> D["Dativ<br/>Indirect Object<br/>Wem?"]
    A --> E["Genitiv<br/>Possession<br/>Wessen?"]
    B --> F["Der Mann liest."]
    C --> G["Ich sehe den Mann."]
    D --> H["Ich helfe dem Mann."]
    E --> I["Das Auto des Mannes."]
    style A fill:#4a90d9,color:white
    style B fill:#2d6a2e,color:white
    style C fill:#d4a017,color:white
    style D fill:#c0392b,color:white
    style E fill:#8e44ad,color:white

Exam tip: The most important case change for GCSE is masculine accusative: der → den, ein → einen. This single change accounts for the majority of case-related marks. Master it first.

3. The Nominative Case (Nominativ)

Used for the subject of the sentence — the person or thing doing the action.

Example	English
Der Mann liest ein Buch.	The man is reading a book.
Meine Mutter ist Lehrerin.	My mother is a teacher.
Das Kind spielt im Garten.	The child is playing in the garden.

Also used after sein (to be) and werden (to become):

Er ist ein guter Schüler. (He is a good student.)

4. The Accusative Case (Akkusativ)

Used for the direct object — the person or thing receiving the action.

Only masculine changes: der → den, ein → einen.

Example	English
Ich kaufe den Pullover.	I buy the pullover.
Hast du einen Bruder?	Do you have a brother?
Ich sehe die Frau und das Kind.	I see the woman and the child.

Also used after certain prepositions (see Prepositions lesson).

5. The Dative Case (Dativ)

Used for the indirect object — the person to or for whom something is done.

Example	English
Ich gebe dem Lehrer das Buch.	I give the book to the teacher.
Sie schreibt ihrer Freundin einen Brief.	She writes a letter to her friend.
Ich kaufe meiner Mutter Blumen.	I buy flowers for my mother.

Key dative verbs (verbs that take dative, not accusative):

German	English
helfen	to help
danken	to thank
gehören	to belong to
gefallen	to please / to like
folgen	to follow
gratulieren	to congratulate

Also used after certain prepositions: aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu (see Prepositions lesson).

6. The Genitive Case (Genitiv)

Used to show possession. Less common at GCSE but important to recognise.

Example	English
Das Auto des Mannes ist rot.	The man's car is red.
Die Tasche der Frau ist schwarz.	The woman's bag is black.
Die Spielzeuge der Kinder sind kaputt.	The children's toys are broken.

Masculine and neuter nouns add -s or -es in the genitive: des Mannes, des Kindes.

7. Personal Pronouns by Case

Nominativ	Akkusativ	Dativ	English
ich	mich	mir	I / me
du	dich	dir	you (informal)
er	ihn	ihm	he / him
sie	sie	ihr	she / her
es	es	ihm	it
wir	uns	uns	we / us
ihr	euch	euch	you (plural)
sie/Sie	sie/Sie	ihnen/Ihnen	they/you (formal)

Summary Checklist

Four cases: Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ, Genitiv with roles and questions
Definite article changes across all four cases
Indefinite article changes across all four cases
Case diagram for visual learning
Nominative: subject and after sein/werden
Accusative: direct object, masculine change (der→den, ein→einen)
Dative: indirect object, key dative verbs
Genitive: possession, -s/-es ending on masculine/neuter nouns
Personal pronouns in all three main cases

Worked example — case-checking a single sentence

Task: Translate "The teacher gives the boy a book" and explain each case decision.

Step 1 — identify the three nouns and their roles.

The Four Cases (Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ, Genitiv)