nominative, accusative, and dative

In German, nominative, accusative, and dative are three grammatical cases used to show the function of nouns and pronouns in a sentence. Here’s a simplified breakdown:

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🔹 1. Nominative Case (Nominativ)

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

• Example:
  Der Mann isst einen Apfel.
  → The man is eating an apple.
  ✅ “Der Mann” = subject → nominative

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🔹 2. Accusative Case (Akkusativ)

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

• Example:
  Der Mann isst einen Apfel.
  → The man is eating an apple.
  ✅ “Einen Apfel” = direct object → accusative

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🔹 3. Dative Case (Dativ)

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

• Example:
  Ich gebe dem Mann einen Apfel.
  → I give the man an apple.
  ✅ “Dem Mann” = indirect object (to whom?) → dative
  ✅ “Einen Apfel” = direct object → accusative

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📊 Quick Reference Table

Case	Role	Masculine Example (def. article)
Nominative	Subject	Der Mann
Accusative	Direct Object	Den Mann
Dative	Indirect Object	Dem Mann

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🧠 Pro Tip: Use questions to identify the case

• Wer? (Who?) → Nominative
• Wen? (Whom?) → Accusative
• Wem? (To whom?) → Dative

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✅ Definite Articles (“the”)

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	der	die	das	die
Accusative	den	die	das	die
Dative	dem	der	dem	den (+ n on noun)

✅ Indefinite Articles (“a/an”)

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ein	eine	ein
Accusative	einen	eine	ein
Dative	einem	einer	einem

📌 No plural form of indefinite articles (you can’t say “a apples”).

✅ Negative Articles (“kein” – no, not any)

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	kein	keine	kein	keine
Accusative	keinen	keine	kein	keine
Dative	keinem	keiner	keinem	keinen (+n on noun)

🧠 Examples for clarity

English	German	Case Used
The man is here.	Der Mann ist hier.	Nominative
I see the man.	Ich sehe den Mann.	Accusative
I give the man a book.	Ich gebe dem Mann ein Buch.	Dative
She has no book.	Sie hat kein Buch.	Accusative
I help the woman.	Ich helfe der Frau.	Dative