German case functions

Nominative, Accusative, Dative, & Genitive

Summary of German cases & their functions

Cases are used in German to signify the functions of nouns and pronouns sentences. There are four cases in German: Nominative, Accusative, Dative, and Genitive. Each case encompasses a specific range of functions. Those specific functions of the cases are outlined below. Follow the links for detailed explanations:

Nominative Case

1) Subject of the sentence
2) Predicate nominative

Accusative Case

1) Direct object
2) Object of accusative prepositions
3) Object of 2-way prepositions denoting destination & with certain idioms
4) Expressions of definite time

Dative Case

1) Indirect objects
2) Objects of dative verbs and adjectives
3) Objects of dative prepostions
4) Objects of 2-way prepositions denoting location & with certain idioms

Genitive Case

1) Possession and relationships
2) Objects of genitive verbs and adjectives
3) Objects of genitive prepositions
4) Expressions of indefinite time

Other things to know about German cases:

• Cases are applied to nouns and pronouns when they are used in a sentence to demonstrate what grammatical role they play in the sentence.

• The case of a noun is shown via the definite or indefinite article that precedes it, if any. If there are no articles, often the context provides enough information to determine the function of a noun in the sentence.

• Every sentence has a subject and therefore has a noun or pronoun in the nominative case.

• Each sentence can contain a variety of nouns and pronouns in any and all cases. This will be determined by the exact grammatical function of each of the nouns and pronouns within the sentence.

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German case functions

Nominative, Accusative, Dative, & Genitive

Summary of German cases & their functions