While you’re learning German, you’ll run into the four different cases. Case refers to different ways a noun is used in a sentence, and changes some of the words you use.
In English, we can say The apple is red! or I have the apple!, and the doesn’t change at all. But in German, words like ein and der can change depending on their case. Let’s look at the one called the accusative case!
When a noun receives an action (like have or eat), this is a situation where you use the accusative case. Just ask yourself, What do you have? or What is being eaten?, and your answer uses the accusative!
| Basic Form | Accusative |
|---|---|
| der Apfel the apple |
Ich habe den Apfel. I have the apple. |
| ein Apfel an apple |
Ich esse einen Apfel. I eat an apple. |
This change only happens with masculine nouns, like Apfel or Junge. Feminine and neuter nouns stay the same here!
Der Junge isst einen Apfel.
The boy eats an apple.
Die Frau liest die Zeitung.
The woman reads the newspaper.
Das Mädchen hat ein Buch.
The girl has a book.
| Masculine | der → den ein → einen |
|---|---|
| Feminine | die → die eine → eine |
| Neuter | das → das ein → ein |
| Plural | die → die |
If you’re having trouble remembering the endings, try out these made‑up words! For the, think about RESE (der, die, das, die) and NESE (den, die, das, die). For a/an, think XEXE (einX, eine, einX, keine) and NEXE (einen, eine, einX, keine)! X means there is no additional ending! We’ll learn more about keine later down the road.
Remember, German verbs all change depending on if you’re talking about I, you, they, and so on. But there’s a pattern in their endings! Let’s take a look at the verb trinken, or to drink!
| trinken drink |
|
|---|---|
| ich I |
trinke drink |
| du you |
trinkst drink |
| er / sie / es he / she / it |
trinkt drinks |
| ihr you all |
trinkt drink |
| wir / sie we / they |
trinken drink |
You see this general verb ending pattern throughout the verbs! Take a second to review the verbs from this skill.
| haben, lesen, essen have, read, eat |
|
|---|---|
| ich I |
habe, lese, esse have, read, eat |
| du you |
hast, liest, isst have, read, eat |
| er / sie / es he / she / it |
hat, liest, isst have, read, eat |
| ihr you all |
habt, lest, esst have, read, eat |
| wir / sie we / they |
haben, lesen, essen have, read, eat |
Watch out, sometimes the main part of the verb changes a little bit depending on its ending! And notice that for lesen and essen, you only add ‑t for du liest and du isst, since an s was already in the word.