Understanding the Accusative Case in German: A Guide for English Speakers

What is the Accusative Case?

In German, the accusative case is one of the four grammatical cases used to indicate the direct object of a verb. This means that the person or thing directly affected by the action is in the accusative case.

How to Recognize the Accusative Case

The accusative case is marked by specific changes in the article and, sometimes, the noun itself. In the singular, masculine nouns change their definite article 'der' to 'den' and the indefinite article 'ein' to 'einen'. Feminine, neuter, and plural forms remain the same.

Accusative Articles

Accusative Case in Action

To understand the accusative case better, it's helpful to look at examples in sentences. The direct object (affected party) is highlighted.