case #1 - nominative case what is the subject of a sentence? the subject of a sentence is the person...

Case #1 - Nominative Case

• What is the subject of a sentence?The subject of a sentence is the person or thing that is “doing” the verb. To find the subject, look for the verb and ask “Who or what is doing?” (substitute the verb for “doing” -- Who or what is singing? Who or what is sleeping?) Subjects are always in the NOMINATIVE CASE.

The Nominative CasePauley’s diction:

• The subject of a clause is said to be in the “nominative casenominative case.”

• Example: Der Junge geht

(The boy (= the SUBJECT SUBJECT in the nominative casenominative case) is going.)

Accusative Case

What is the direct object of a sentence?The direct object receives the action of the verb. To find the direct object, look for the verb and ask “Who or what is being verbed?” (as in Who or what is being kicked? Who or what is being read?) Direct objects take the ACCUSATIVE CASE.

Verb Types• The part of the clause that links the subjectsubject to an

objectobject is the VERBVERB. Verbs that take an object are called TRANSITIVE verbsTRANSITIVE verbs.

• Example: He openedopened the door.

• Not all verbs however can take an object.

• Verbs that do not take an object are called INTRANSITIVE verbsINTRANSITIVE verbs.

• Example: They arrivedarrived (i.e. you cannot “arrive” something!).

The Accusative Case• The direct objectdirect object in a clause is the noun or pronoun

that is affected “directly” by the subject of the verb.

• The direct object is in the accusative caseaccusative case.

Example:

• “Der Junge schreibt den/einen Briefden/einen Brief” (The boy is writing the/a letterthe/a letter)

(= the DIRECT OBJECT DIRECT OBJECT in the accusative caseaccusative case)

Side Note: The Accusative Case in English

• In English there are no special case endings for the accusative - the / athe / a remain the same in both the nominative and accusative cases.

• English merely retains some nominative pronouns: I (acc. me), we (acc. us) etc.

• The direct object can however be easily identified by its position in the clause - it will always come afterafter the subject.

The Accusative Case in German

• In German objects can precede or follow the subject. It is the case endingscase endings and the verb endingsverb endings that tell us which case is which.

Example:• DerDer Hund Hund siehtsieht die Katzen. die Katzen.

(The dog sees the cats.) • DenDen Hund Hund siehtsieht die Katzen. die Katzen.

(The cats sees the dog.)

The direct object answers the questions:

Wen (whom)?Wen (whom)?

Was (what)?Was (what)?und

NOTE: Who = wer

Review

• The woman sees the girl. The woman is the subject and is nominative. The girl is the direct object and is accusative.

The girl sees the woman. The girl is the subject and is nominative. The woman is the direct object and is accusative.

Barack Obama is the president. Barack is the subject and is nominative. The President is ALSO nominative because it follows “to be” (is).

More review…

•They invited me.

•Paul hit the ball.

•Have you seen a Shakespeare play?

•He plays the piano.

SubjectSubject Direct ObjectDirect Object

Nominativederdiedasdie

Accusativedendiedasdie

den

Compare the nominative to the accusative case.

masculine feminine neuter plural

Nominative

Accusative

derein

kein

derein

kein

dieeine

keine

dieeine

keine

dasein

kein

dasein

kein

die----

keine

die----

keine

deneinen

keinen

deneinen

keinen

dasein

kein

dasein

kein

dieeine

keine

dieeine

keine

die----

keine

die----

keine

the only differencethe only differencemeinen, deinen, Ihren, ihrenseinen/ihren/seinenunsren euren

meinen, deinen, Ihren, ihrenseinen/ihren/seinenunsren euren

AccusativePossessiveArticles (later)

masculine feminine neuter plural

Nominative

Accusative

derein

kein

derein

kein

dieeine

keine

dieeine

keine

dasein

kein

dasein

kein

die----

keine

die----

keine

deneinen

keinen

deneinen

keinen

dasein

kein

dasein

kein

dieeine

keine

dieeine

keine

die----

keine

die----

keine

other“der-words”Accusative

Case

diesen, jeden, welchen, manchen, solchendiesen, jeden, welchen, manchen, solchen

Accusative Case – TIP #1Accusative Case – TIP #1

When the subject is paired with a verb such as , the sentence must have a

to be complete.

‘haben’““direct object”direct object”.

Den

DieDie

DasDas

DieDie

Den

DieDie

DasDas

DieDie Man hat etwas.One has something.

• By contrast, nouns following the verb SEIN will ALWAYS take the nominative case.

Here is a man. Here is the man.

Hier ist ein Mann. Hier ist der Mann.

Accusative Case – TIP #1Accusative Case – TIP #1

Remember, the direct object answers the questions:

Wen?Wen?

Was?Was?und

Das Kind hat eine Gitarre.Das Kind hat eine Gitarre.ss ee

Der Mann Der Mann hat den hat den Stuhl.Stuhl.

Masculine noun “Stuhl” is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case.

Was macht er?Was macht er?Er repariert die Lampe.Er repariert die Lampe.

The subject is in the nominative case.

This is the direct object. It is in the accusative case.

Sie sehen ein Polospiel (den Sport).

Wen sehen diese Leute?

Sie sehen die Tänzers.

Was sehen diese Leute?

Die Die Vögel Vögel (birds)(birds) hat ein hat ein Haus.Haus.

Mutter hat einen Geburtstag Mutter hat einen Geburtstag (birthday).(birthday).

Dieser findet den Schatz.

Dieser Seeräuber hat einen Schatz.

der Schatz = treasure

Die Studentin macht die Hausaufgaben.Die Studentin macht die Hausaufgaben.

Was?Was?

Was kaufst du?Was kaufst du?Was kaufst du?Was kaufst du?Was siehst du?Was siehst du?Was siehst du?Was siehst du?

Was hast du?Was hast du?Was hast du?Was hast du? Was spielst Was spielst du?du?Was spielst Was spielst du?du?

Wen?Wen?Wen siehst du?Wen siehst du?Wen siehst du?Wen siehst du? Wen liebst du?Wen liebst du?Wen liebst du?Wen liebst du?

Wen kennst du?Wen kennst du?Wen kennst du?Wen kennst du? Wen fragst du?Wen fragst du?Wen fragst du?Wen fragst du?

Wer küßt wen?Wer küßt wen?

Der Mann küßt die Frau.Der Mann küßt die Frau.Die Frau küßt der Mann.Die Frau küßt der Mann.

The action is the same no matter what the word order. The man is performing the verb.

The action is the same no matter what the word order. The man is performing the verb.

“Der” is the nominative

article for masculine nouns. It

shows that the noun is

the subject of the sentence.

“Der” is the nominative

article for masculine nouns. It

shows that the noun is

the subject of the sentence.

Wer küßt wen?Wer küßt wen?

Die Frau küßt den Mann.Die Frau küßt den Mann.

Den Mann küßt die Frau.Den Mann küßt die Frau.

The accusative article “Den” shows that the man is the direct object of the action.

The accusative article “Den” shows that the man is the direct object of the action.

The woman is the

performer of the verb in

both sentences.

The woman is the

performer of the verb in

both sentences.The article

“den” answers the

question “wen?”

The article “den”

answers the question

“wen?”

Pronouns

• The nominative pronouns are: ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, Sie, sie. 

• The accusative pronouns are mich, dich, ihn, sie, es, uns, euch, Sie, sie

Grüß dich!Du besuchst mich endlich

wieder.

michmich unsdichdich euchSie Sieihn/sie/es sie

accusative caseaccusative casepersonal personal pronounspronouns

besuchen = visit

Sie liebt Sie liebt mich.mich.

Ich Ich liebe liebe sie.sie.michmich uns uns

dich euchSie Sie

ihn/siesie/es sie