German Grammar Explained /
Accusative: indefinite article
Remember: We use accusative for direct objects.
Nominative = Subject
Der Mann ist groß.
Who is big? → the man
Accusative = Direct Object
Ich sehe den Mann.
Who do I see? → the man
The reason why declensions play a big role in German grammar is because not only definite articles change depending on the case, we 'decline' many types of words:
- Definite articles: der, die, das
- Indefinite articles: ein, eine, ein
- The negation article: kein, keine, kein
- Possessives: mein, meine, mein
Don't be alarmed, though! We'll teach you a trick, and you will see that it is actually very logical.
If you observe the definite article declension, we see that the r in der gets replaced by an n. The others don't change!
Nominative | Accusative |
|---|---|
der | den |
die | die |
das | das |
This pattern is the same for all other accusative masculine declensions. For example, ein/eine and kein/keine:
Nominative | Accusative |
|---|---|
(k)ein | (k)einen |
(k)eine | (k)eine |
(k)ein | (k)ein |
Add an m and you get the possessive (my):
Nominative | Accusative |
|---|---|
mein | meinen |
meine | meine |
mein | mein |
Also: deinen, seinen, ihren, ... (English: your, his, her, ...)
Ich esse den Fisch.
I eat the fish.
Ich nehme einen Rotwein.
I'll take a (glass of) red wine.
Ich sehe meinen Mann.
I see my husband.
Ich sehe keinen Mann.
I see no man.
If you show me one more table...
Sorry... This is simply to give you an overview of the different types of accusative declensions! We will learn it all bit by bit, you don't have to remember all of this at once! Just remember the -n for accusative masculine!