German accusative: complete articles and pronouns
CEFR A1
What you will learn
- Recognise the pattern taught in “German accusative: complete articles and pronouns” in a short example.
- Choose the appropriate form from “German accusative: complete articles and pronouns” using explicit evidence.
- Apply and justify the rule from “German accusative: complete articles and pronouns” in a new case.
The idea
The accusative mainly marks the direct object and certain prepositions; in articles, the visible nominative-to-accusative change occurs in the masculine singular.
Compare the definite article: nominative der, die, das, die; accusative den, die, das, die. Only masculine singular changes form. With the indefinite article: nominative ein, eine, ein; accusative einen, eine, ein. There is no plural indefinite article in either case.
Identify functions first. In Der Hund sieht den Mann, der Hund performs the action and den Mann receives it. If the object opens the sentence —Den Mann sieht der Hund—, case still shows who sees whom; the finite verb keeps V2. Not every verb takes a direct object: after sein, werden or bleiben, a predicative complement remains nominative.
The complete personal paradigm nominative→accusative is: ich→mich; du→dich; er→ihn; sie→sie; es→es; wir→uns; ihr→euch; sie→sie; Sie→Sie. Even when forms coincide, every person must appear in the table.
The prepositions durch, für, gegen, ohne and um govern the accusative in these basic uses. Prepositionless duration expressions also occur, but are an extension; the central A1 gate is distinguishing subject, direct object and prepositional government.
definido nominativo a acusativo
| elemento | forma |
|---|---|
| masculino | der → den |
| femenino | die → die |
| neutro | das → das |
| plural | die → die |
indefinido nominativo a acusativo
| elemento | forma |
|---|---|
| masculino | ein → einen |
| femenino | eine → eine |
| neutro | ein → ein |
| plural | sin forma |
pronombres nominativo a acusativo
| elemento | forma |
|---|---|
| 1 | ich → mich |
| 2 | du → dich |
| 3 | er → ihn |
| 4 | sie → sie |
| 5 | es → es |
| 6 | wir → uns |
| 7 | ihr → euch |
| 8 | sie → sie |
| 9 | Sie → Sie |
How it sounds
- Der Arzt ruft den Fahrer.Masculine Fahrer is the direct object: den.
- Ich brauche eine Pause und ein Ticket.Feminine and neuter keep eine and ein in the accusative.
- Ohne euch beginne ich nicht.ohne governs the accusative; ihr becomes euch.
Your turn
Two or three, to check that the bit above landed.
Nora sucht ___ Schlüssel.
den — Schlüssel is masculine and is the direct object of sucht, so der changes to den.
Wir besuchen ___ Tante.
eine — Tante is feminine; the feminine indefinite article remains eine in the accusative.
Das Geschenk ist für ___. (ich)
mich — für governs the accusative, and pronoun ich takes the form mich.
When it doesn't hold
What breaks the rule, said out loud. Hiding it is what makes you feel cheated in the exam.
- One group of masculine nouns also adds -n or -en in the accusative: Student, Kunde, Kollege, Mensch.Ich sehe den Studenten.
- The phrase es gibt always takes the accusative even though it looks like a subject.Es gibt einen Grund.
- Duration goes in the accusative with no preposition at all.Der Film dauert einen Monat.
What your own language pushes you to say
Wrong Ich kenne der Film.
Right Ich kenne den Film.
English lost its case endings on nouns centuries ago and keeps them only in pronouns (I/me, he/him). So the idea that «the» itself could change shape has no foothold at all.
Curriculum alignment and sources
- CEFR A1 · simple structures for people, objects and concrete needs; placing the accusative at A1.2 is an editorial progression · Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Companion Volume
- German case paradigms cross-checked against language-specific reference descriptions · Reference Level Descriptions developed so far