Die Fälle im Deutschen zeigen, wie Wörter im Satz zusammengehören.
(The cases in German show how words belong together in a sentence.)
- The cases show the role of a word in the sentence: they help to determine whether a word is the subject, object, or has another function in the sentence.
- They affect the form of articles and nouns: depending on the case, the articles (der, die, das) and the endings of the nouns change.
| Fall (case) | Fragewort (question word) | Was wird beschrieben? (what is described?) | Beispiel (example) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | Wer? Was? (who? what?) | Subjekt (subject) | „Der Hund läuft.“ (Der Hund = Subjekt) (“The dog runs.” (Der Hund = Subjekt)) |
| Akkusativ | Wen? Was? (whom? what?) | Direktes Objekt (direct object) | „Ich sehe den Hund.“ (den Hund = direktes Objekt) (“I see the dog.” (den Hund = direct object)) |
| Dativ | Wem? (to whom?) | Indirektes Objekt (indirect object) | „Ich gebe dem Hund einen Ball.“ (dem Hund = indirektes Objekt) (“I give the dog a ball.” (dem Hund = indirect object)) |
| Genitiv | Wessen? (whose?) | Besitz oder Zugehörigkeit (possession or belonging) | „Das ist das Spielzeug des Hundes.“ (des Hundes = Besitz oder Zugehörigkeit) (“That is the dog's toy.” (des Hundes = possession or belonging)) |
Exceptions!
- In spoken language, the genitive is often replaced by the dative, especially in informal contexts.
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