Nominative vs. Accusative in German

German, unlike English, has a case system, which means that nouns, pronouns, and articles change form depending on their role in a sentence. The nominative and accusative are two of these cases.

Nominative

• Function: The subject of the sentence.
• Equivalent in English: The noun or pronoun that performs the action.
• Example: Der Hund bellt. (The dog barks.) – Der Hund is the subject (nominative.

Accusative

• Function: The direct object of the sentence.
• Equivalent in English: The noun or pronoun that receives the action.
• Example: Ich sehe den Hund. (I see the dog.) – Den Hund is the direct object (accusative).

Key differences in article forms:

As you can see, the nominative and accusative cases are often distinguished by the article. However, there are exceptions and irregularities, especially with pronouns and adjectives.

Example sentence:

• Der Mann gibt dem Kind einen Apfel. (The man gives the child an apple.)
  • Der Mann is the subject (nominative).
  • Dem Kind is the indirect object (dative case, not covered here).
  • Einen Apfel is the direct object (accusative).

To summarize:

• The nominative case is for the subject of the sentence.
• The accusative case is for the direct object of the sentence.