Akkusativ.
What gets acted upon?
If the Nominativ is the doer, the Akkusativ is the done-to. It is the target the action lands on, and for masculine nouns it triggers the single most famous change in German grammar → der becomes den.
Also: The Akkusativ builds on the Nominativ. See German Nominativ Case. And the pronouns that live here: Personal pronouns. The Akkusativ set.
In the previous piece we found the subject by asking "who or what?" before the verb. The Akkusativ is the natural next question. Once you know who is doing something, you ask: doing it to what? That answer is your direct object, and it lives in the Akkusativ.
The one question that finds it
Ask Wen? oder was? "Whom or what?" after the verb.
- DerHund siehtdenMann. Sees whom? The man. → Akkusativ.
- Ich nehmeeinenApfel. Take what? An apple. → Akkusativ.
- Sie liestdasBuch. Reads what? The book. → Akkusativ.
In edupango the object is tinted Akkusativ. So a typical sentence shows up as Nominativ → verb → Akkusativ: doer, action, done-to. You can read the grammar off the colors before you parse a single ending.
The famous rule: only the masculine moves
Here is the rule that does most of the work, and it is smaller than people fear. Going from Nominativ to Akkusativ, only the masculine article changes. Feminine, neuter and plural stay exactly the same.
| Gender | Nominativ | Akkusativ | Changed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | der / ein | den / einen | ✓ yes |
| Feminine | die / eine | die / eine | no |
| Neuter | das / ein | das / ein | no |
| Plural | die | die | no |
Three quarters of the Akkusativ is identical to the Nominativ. Learn one change, der → den, ein → einen, and you have learned the whole case.
Why den and not der
Word order in German is flexible because the endings carry the meaning. The -n on den is a flag that says "this masculine noun is the target, not the doer." That single letter is why German can say:
- DenMann sieht derHund, still "the dog sees the man".
Even though denMann comes first, the -n tells you it is the object. English would be hopelessly confused here; German just reads the flag. That is the whole point of the Akkusativ ending, it lets meaning survive a change in word order.
Two everyday triggers
Beyond plain direct objects, the Akkusativ shows up in two places you'll meet on day one:
Akkusativ prepositions
A fixed group always takes the Akkusativ → durch, für, gegen, ohne, um. Many learners memorize them as a little chant. fürdenMann, ohneeinenPlan.
Time and movement
Definite stretches of time are Akkusativ → Ich arbeite einenMonat. And with two-way prepositions, motion toward a place takes the Akkusativ, but that is the doorway to the Dativ, which is the next article.
The model to keep
Keep three things and you own the Akkusativ: ask "wen? oder was?" after the verb, tint the object Akkusativ, and remember that only the masculine changes, der becomes den. Everything else you already knew from the Nominativ. Next up: the Dativ, where the action doesn't land on something, but happens to or for someone.