Case German grammar

1 case

1.1 general
1.2 genitive
1.3 dative
1.4 cases after prepositions

case
general

unlike english, has lost forms of declension of nouns , adjectives, german inflects nouns, adjectives, articles , pronouns 4 grammatical cases. cases nominative (nominativ, werfall, 1. fall), genitive (genitiv, wes[sen]fall, 2. fall), dative (dativ, wemfall, 3. fall), , accusative (akkusativ, wenfall, 4. fall). case of particular noun depends on grammatical function of noun in sentence.

nominative (wer oder was?): subject of sentence, carries out action

he loves her.


genitive (wessen?): possessor of something, or object of prepositions or verbs; in english whose?

this susanna s book.


dative (wem?): indirect object, in when object given someone, or object of prepositions , verbs

i gave book her.


accusative (wen oder was?): direct object, acted upon, or object of prepositions

he loves her.

note: in earlier usage (17-19th century) german words derived latin had vocative , ablative case, , words still have vocative (e.g. jesus, vocative jesu or jesus, , christus, vocative christe or christus).

example: der tisch (masc.) (engl. table)











in jocular sentence (using 1 noun understanding purposes):

der tisch [nominative] gab dem tisch(e) [dative] des tisch(e)s [genitive] den tisch [accusative].
the table [nom.] gave (to) table [dat.] of table [gen.] table [acc.].
the table gave table s table table.




declension of german definite articles, der, die, , das ( ).



this sentence example of how cases used in german (and in every other language grammatical case). differs english, word order in sentence has more meaning. in german, because function of each noun not marked position within sentence declined articles—and in case of genitive , dative suffix @ end of noun itself—the german sentence be:




der tisch gab dem tisch(e) den tisch des tisch(e)s.
der tisch gab des tisch(e)s tisch dem tisch(e)
den tisch des tisches gab dem tisch der tisch.
dem tisch(e) gab den tisch des tisch(e)s der tisch.
des tisch(e)s tisch gab dem tisch(e) den tisch.
etc.




although of these may sound exotic in modern-day german, grammatically correct (and rather unusual constructions more regularly used in poetry).

in contrast inflected languages latin, german expresses cases more through article accompanies noun through inflection of noun; although number (singular vs. plural) expressed inflecting noun (der tisch, die tische). other exceptions of suffix expressing case of noun along article forms of genitive , dative singular , dative plural. yet, 1 still transferring case-information article preserved german case system throughout development old high german contemporary german.

genitive

today, use of genitive case relatively rare in spoken language - speakers substitute dative case genitive in conversation. genitive case remains obligatory in written communication, public speeches , not explicitly colloquial, , still important part of bildungssprache (language of education). television programs , movies contain mix of both, dative substitution , regular genitive, depending on how formal or artistic program intended be. use of dative substitution more common in southern german dialects, whereas germans northern regions (where luther s bible-german had learned foreign language @ time) use genitive more frequently. though has become quite common not use genitive case when formally required, many germans know how use , so. among higher educated, considered minor embarrassment caught using dative case incorrectly. not typically recommended avoid genitive when learning german: although genitive has been gradually falling out of use 600 years, still far extinct. historical development of standardsprache has extent re-established genitive language, , not in written form. example, genitive used in colloquial german express possessive relation (e.g. das auto meines vaters father s car may sound odd germans in colloquial speech), partitive genitive quite common today (e.g. einer der besten 1 of best ). furthermore, verbs take genitive case in object, ignored native speakers; instead, replace these genitive objects (substitutional) prepositional constructions: e.g. ich schäme mich deiner. ( m ashamed of you. ) turns ich schäme mich wegen dir (or deinetwegen). ( m ashamed because of you. ).

a german book series called der dativ ist dem genitiv sein tod ( dative genitive death ) alludes phenomenon (being called genitive s death struggle author) in title. in correct standard german, title der dativ ist des genitiv[e]s tod ( dative genitive s death ), or alternatively der dativ ist der tod des genitivs. apparent, book uses dialect, i.e. employing dative case possessive pronoun instead of genitive, poke fun @ author perceives decline in german language, since in written german dative construction replacing genitive still considered major error. is, way, not how standard german speakers colloquially replace genitive case; rather, usage prevalent in german regional dialects, such bavarian. standard german speakers construct der dativ ist der tod vom genitiv, (being literally english of genitive ) incorrect in standard well, far less incriminating.

linguistically, thesis of genitive case dying out can refuted. indeed, genitive case has been out of use in dialects of german language centuries. replacement of dialects colloquial standard german new, , use of genitive case in written language unaffected. also, many germans wrongly use genitive after prepositions such nahe, gemäß , entgegen, although dative required.

there are, however, legitimate dative constructions indicate possession, in dem knaben ist ein buch zu eigen . construction zu eigen, virtually appears in latin beginners translations, sentence should indicate (puero liber est). dialects have dem knaben ist ein buch literally dativus possessivus. if genitive unmarked , without article (practically, in plural), usage of von, followed dative, not legitimate required, in: die belange von minderheiten sind zu schützen (minorities affairs protected). in case, belange der minderheiten contain definite article, not reflect intended indefiniteness of minderheiten; minderheiten unmarked plural, i.e. grammatical case. additionally, dative case commonly used indicate possession of bodily parts direct objects of action. constructions such er brach sich den arm. ( broke arm. , literally broke himself arm. ) , du stichst dir die augen aus, junge! ( ll put eyes out, kid! , literally [will] put eyes out, kid! ) typical , correct in context. in english, construction occurs in construction in eye , variants.

dative

the dative case used indirect object of verb. sentence ich gebe meinem sohn(e) einen hund ( give son dog ) contains subject ich , verb gebe , indirect object meinem sohn(e) ; , direct object einen hund . meinem sohn(e) whom or destination of object of subject s action, , therefore takes masculine dative -m.

dative focuses on location. (see accusative or dative prepositions below). german places strong emphasis on difference between location , motion; accusative case used motion , dative location. there 4 important verbs show dichotomy: hängen/hängen, legen/liegen, stellen/stehen, setzen/sitzen (motion/location). sentence ich hänge das bild die (acc.) wand., hang picture on(to) wall. demonstrates motion. on other hand, sentence das bild hängt der (dat.) wand. shows location; now, picture located on wall, wand dative.

cases after prepositions

the case of noun after preposition decided preposition. no prepositions require nominative case, other case may follow one, example, preposition für (for) followed accusative case, word mit (with) followed dative, , word außerhalb (outside of) followed genitive case. prepositions, called 2 way prepositions , have objects either in dative or accusative, depending on whether use implies position (e.g. in der küche = in kitchen , dative case) or direction (e.g. in die küche = kitchen , accusative case).