Nominative vs. Accusative in German: How to Tell Them Apart

Introduction

German grammar can be confusing for beginners, especially when it comes to German case differences like the nominative and accusative. German has four cases (nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive), but learners often struggle the most with telling German nominative vs accusative apart. Unlike English, German changes the words for “the” or pronouns depending on a noun’s role in the sentence. This guide will explain the differences between the German nominative and accusative cases, with clear tables, nominative vs accusative examples, and practice exercises to help you master these concepts.

Understanding these two cases is crucial because they affect sentence meaning. Use the nominative and accusative correctly, and your sentence makes sense – mix them up, and you might say something completely different than intended! Don’t worry: we’ll break down each case, show you how to recognize them, and give you tips to avoid common mistakes. (For an overview of all German cases, check out our detailed guide on German Cases & Adjectives for context.)

What Is the Nominative Case?

The nominative case is the basic form of a noun or pronoun – it’s the form you’ll find in the dictionary. In German, the nominative is used for the subject of the sentence, meaning the person or thing doing the action or being described. It often answers the question “Who or what is performing the action?” For example, in “Der Mann steht” (The man stands), der Mann (the man) is the subject in the nominative case.

In German, the nominative case is also used after the verb sein (to be) and certain other linking verbs, essentially when renaming or identifying the subject. For instance, “Das ist ein Hund.” (That is a dog.) – Here ein Hund is in the nominative, since it’s essentially re-identifying “that.”

Let’s look at a few examples of subjects in the nominative case:

German (Nominative Subject)	English Translation
Der Mann ist müde.	The man is tired.
Die Frau lacht.	The woman laughs.
Das Kind spielt.	The child is playing.
Die Kinder sind laut.	The children are loud.

In each of the German sentences above, the subject is in nominative (bolded). Notice the form of the word for “the” in each case: der, die, das (and die for plural). These are the nominative forms of the definite article. The nominative case doesn’t change the noun itself, but it determines the form of any article or pronoun attached to the noun. (Need a refresher on der, die, das and gender? See our German articles guide for a breakdown of masculine, feminine, and neuter articles.)

What Is the Accusative Case?

The accusative case is used for the direct object of a sentence – the person or thing receiving the action of the verb. It answers the question “Whom or what is being [verb]-ed?” In English, we often use word order and prepositions to signal this (and we have remnants like “I” vs “me”), but in German the articles and pronouns change form to mark the accusative.

You use the accusative case for direct objects of verbs. For example, in “Der Mann sieht den Hund.” (The man sees the dog), der Mann is the subject (nominative) and den Hund is the direct object in the accusative case (he’s the one being seen). German learners must pay attention here: der Hund (nominative) becomes den Hund in accusative. The change from der to den signals that “the dog” is now the object, not the subject.

The accusative is also required after certain verbs and accusative prepositions. Common verbs like haben (to have), sehen (to see), finden (to find), etc., will have their objects in accusative. Likewise, prepositions such as für (for), durch (through), ohne (without), gegen (against), um (around) and a few others always take an accusative object. For instance, “Das Geschenk ist für den Mann.” (The gift is for the man) – den Mann is accusative after für.

Articles in the Accusative: der → den, etc.

One of the biggest giveaways of the accusative case is the change in the articles (and some pronouns). Here’s a quick comparison of the definite articles in nominative vs. accusative:

Gender/Number	Nominative (Subject)	Accusative (Direct Object)
Masculine	der Mann	den Mann
Feminine	die Frau	die Frau
Neuter	das Kind	das Kind
Plural	die Kinder	die Kinder

As you can see, most of the forms look the same in nominative and accusative except the masculine singular. Der changes to den in the accusative. This is a key difference: whenever a masculine noun (like Mann, Hund, Tisch, etc.) becomes a direct object, its article der will change to den. Feminine (die Frau remains die Frau), neuter (das Kind remains das Kind), and plural (die Kinder remains die Kinder) articles do not change from nominative to accusative.

Note: The same pattern applies to ein (a/an) and other indefinite articles. For a masculine noun, ein becomes einen in the accusative (e.g., ein Mann → einen Mann). Feminine eine stays eine, and neuter ein stays ein. For example, “Eine Frau hat einen Hund.” (A woman has a dog) – eine Frau (feminine, nominative subject) stays eine, while einen Hund (masculine, accusative object) has the added -en on ein. We’ll summarize these changes in a table in the next section.

Accusative Examples in Sentences

Here are some example sentences that use the accusative case, with explanations:

• Der Mann sieht den Hund. – (The man sees the dog.) Der Mann is the subject (nominative), and den Hund is the direct object in accusative. The article der changed to den to mark the object.
• Ich habe einen Bruder. – (I have a brother.) Ich (I) is nominative subject, and einen Bruder (a brother) is accusative object. Note ein Bruder became einen Bruder because Bruder (brother) is masculine and here it’s a direct object.
• Die Frau kauft das Buch. – (The woman buys the book.) Die Frau is nominative (feminine subject, die stays die), and das Buch is accusative (neuter object, das stays das – no change for neuter).

In each of these, the accusative case tells us who or what is receiving the action. Without the correct accusative form, the sentence either wouldn’t make sense or could even mean something else entirely (as we’ll see below).

Nominative vs. Accusative: Key Differences

Now that we’ve defined each case, let’s highlight the key differences between nominative and accusative in German and how to tell them apart:

• Role in the Sentence: The nominative case marks the subject of the sentence (the doer), while the accusative marks the direct object (the receiver of the action). For example, in “Der Hund beißt den Mann,” the subject (doer) is der Hund (nominative) and the object (receiver) is den Mann (accusative). If we swap them, “Den Hund beißt der Mann,” the meaning changes: now der Mann (the man, still in nominative) is biting den Hund (the dog, accusative)! Word order changed, but the cases (der vs. den) clearly signal who is doing what. This illustrates that German relies on case markings more than word order to convey meaning. (In English, we’d rely on the word order and say “The man bites the dog” vs “The dog bites the man.” In German, you must pay attention to der vs den to understand the sentence correctly.) If the articles were wrong, you could misunderstand the whole sentence.
• Article Forms: As shown in the table above, the definite and indefinite articles change in accusative only for masculine singular nouns. This means to distinguish nominative vs accusative, look at the article:
  • Masculine: der (nom.) → den (acc.); ein → einen.
  • Feminine: die → die (no change); eine → eine.
  • Neuter: das → das (no change); ein → ein.
  • Plural: die → die (no change for definites; no indefinite article in plural, but e.g. keine → keine for “no [plural noun]”).
    In other words, if you see den or einen, you know that noun is functioning as an accusative object. If you see der or ein (with a masculine noun) in a sentence, that noun is likely the subject in nominative (unless it’s a predicate after sein, which also uses nominative).
  To summarize the article changes, here’s a quick reference table for “the” and “a” in nominative vs accusative: der (the) / ein (a) – Nom.den (the) / einen (a) – Acc.Masculineder Mann / ein Mannden Mann / einen MannFemininedie Frau / eine Fraudie Frau / eine FrauNeuterdas Kind / ein Kinddas Kind / ein KindPluraldie Hunde / (–)die Hunde / (–)(Note: There is no plural form of “a” in English or German; “kein(e)” would be used for “no/none”.)The table reinforces that only masculine forms get that extra -n (for “the”) or -en (for “a”) in accusative.

• Pronoun Changes: Personal pronouns also change between nominative and accusative, similar to “I” vs “me” in English. In German, ich (I) becomes mich (me), du (you, sing.) becomes dich (you, as object), er (he) becomes ihn (him). The pronoun for “she” (sie) stays sie in accusative (her), and “it” (es) stays es. For plural: wir (we) → uns (us), ihr (you all) → euch (you all as object), sie (they) → sie (them), Sie (You formal) → Sie (no change). For example, “Ich sehe ihn” means “I see him,” where ihn is the accusative of er (he). If you said “Ich sehe er,” it would be incorrect. These pronoun changes are a big clue: if someone says mich, dich, ihn, uns, euch – those are accusative, not nominative. (For a full list and more on using pronouns correctly, see our guide on German pronouns.)
• Sentence Position vs. Case: In English, the first noun in a simple sentence is usually the subject, and the second is the object. In German, word order is more flexible because the case endings show each noun’s role. The nominative subject doesn’t always come first. For example, “Den Hund liebt der Mann.” is a grammatically correct German sentence. Literally, “The dog loves the man,” but thanks to the cases we know der Mann is nominative (the one doing the loving) and den Hund is accusative (the one being loved). So the proper translation is “The man loves the dog,” despite the order. A German speaker knows this because den indicates the object. As a learner, always pay attention to the article or pronoun, not just position, to identify nominative vs accusative. (You can read more about flexible German word order and sentence structure in our German sentence structure guide to see how cases allow sentences to be rearranged.)
• When Each Case Is Used: To boil it down – use nominative for the subject of the clause, and use accusative for the direct object of a verb or after an accusative preposition. If you find yourself asking “Is this noun doing the action, or is something being done to it?”, you’re really asking nominative or accusative. Identify the verb in the sentence and its actor vs. target: the actor will be nominative, the target will be accusative. This functional difference is the core of nominative vs. accusative in German.

By keeping these differences in mind, you can determine which case to use. Next, we’ll look at some common mistakes learners make with these cases and how to avoid them.

Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

German beginners frequently mix up nominative and accusative. Here are some of the most common mistakes and tips to avoid them:

• Using the wrong article for a direct object (masculine nouns): A very common error is forgetting to change der to den (or ein to einen) for masculine objects. For example, saying Ich sehe der Hund ❌ instead of Ich sehe den Hund ✅. To avoid this, remember that if a masculine noun is on the receiving end of the verb, its article gets an -n. Tip: Memorize a simple rule: “Masculine object? Add -n.” Always check if your noun is masculine – if yes and it’s not the subject, use den/einen. Over time, this will become automatic.

• Mistaking sein and other linking verbs for accusative triggers: In German, the verb sein (to be) does not take an accusative object; it links to another nominative. Learners sometimes say things like “Ich bin einen Student” ❌ thinking in terms of an English phrase “I am a student.” It should be “Ich bin ein Student” ✅ (nominative after bin). Similarly, “Das ist mich” ❌ should be “Das bin ich” ✅ for “That is me/I.” Tip: Remember that sein (and verbs like werden, bleiben) equate two things; the noun after them describes the subject, so it stays nominative. If the verb is a form of “to be,” do not use den/einen or mich/dich – stick with der/ein or ich/du forms.
• Confusing nominative and accusative pronouns: It’s easy to slip up and use the wrong pronoun form, especially since English isn’t as strict (we sometimes say “It’s me” even though grammatically “It’s I”). A common mistake is using ich where mich is needed, or er instead of ihn, etc. For example: “Kannst du ich verstehen?” ❌ should be “Kannst du mich verstehen?” ✅ (Can you understand me?). Or “Wir sehen sie” could mean “we see her” or “we see them,” but if someone used sie (they) wrongly for “them” vs sie (she) – context gets muddled. Tip: Drill the personal pronoun chart for accusative. Practice sentences swapping out “him,” “her,” “us,” etc. in German. Keep an eye on context: if the pronoun isn’t the subject, make sure you’re not using the subject form. (Review our German pronouns guide for a quick refresher on these forms.)
• Assuming the first noun is always the subject: As mentioned, German word order can put the object first. Beginners might misinterpret sentences if they rely on English habits. For example, “Den Mann beißt der Hund.” A learner not noticing the cases might translate each word in order and think “The man bites the dog,” which is wrong – it actually means “The dog bites the man” (because der Hund is the subject). Or a learner might write a sentence like “Den Apfel isst Anna” intending to say “Anna eats the apple,” but if they used Den Apfel thinking it was the subject, it’s actually marked as object. Tip: Train yourself to identify the case markers before translating or forming a sentence. Who is doing the verb? Make that noun nominative (der, die, das, etc.). Who/what is being acted upon? Make that accusative (den, die, das, etc., or add -n to the article if masculine). Double-check by mentally substituting the English “he vs him” or “who vs whom” – if “whom” or “him” fits, you likely need accusative in German. And remember, the verb often stays in position 2 in German main clauses, so the word right before the verb could be either subject or object – you must rely on the article/pronoun ending to know which case it is.

• Not learning the gender of nouns (leading to case mistakes): This is an indirect mistake that causes case errors. If you don’t know whether a noun is der, die, or das, you won’t know how to change it in accusative. For instance, if you guess that “table” is feminine die Tisch instead of correctly masculine der Tisch, you might never use den Tisch when you should. Tip: Always learn nouns with their article (and plural form). Make flashcards or use a vocabulary list that includes der, die, or das with the noun. By knowing the gender, you’ll instantly know whether you need to change the article in accusative. Overlooking noun gender is one of the common mistakes foreigners make in German, and fixing that habit will improve your case accuracy greatly.
• Forgetting about prepositions that require accusative: Sometimes learners remember to change der → den for direct objects of verbs, but forget it with prepositional phrases. For example, “für der Mann” ❌ instead of “für den Mann” ✅, or “ohne ich” ❌ instead of “ohne mich” ✅. Tip: Memorize the common accusative prepositions (für, durch, gegen, ohne, um, entlang…). If a noun or pronoun follows one of these, put it in accusative automatically. Create example phrases for each (e.g., für den Freund, ohne mich) so you remember the pattern. This will become a reflex with practice.

By being aware of these pitfalls, you can check your sentences for the correct case usage. When in doubt, slow down and parse the sentence: identify the subject and object, and apply the appropriate case to each. With time and practice, the differences between nominative and accusative will feel more natural.

Practice Exercises

Now it’s time to practice what you’ve learned! Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the article or pronoun (nominative or accusative as needed). The answers are provided in the Answer Key below – no peeking until you’ve given it a try 🙂

1. Ich sehe ___ Mann. (der/den)
2. ___ Hund spielt im Garten. (Der/Den)
3. Kannst du ___ verstehen? (ich/mich)
4. Er hat ___ Bruder. (ein/einen)
5. Wo ist Thomas? Hast du ___ gesehen? (ihn/er)

Answer Key

1. Ich sehe den Mann. (I see the man.) – den Mann is accusative (direct object).
2. Der Hund spielt im Garten. (The dog is playing in the yard.) – Der Hund is nominative (subject).
3. Kannst du mich verstehen? (Can you understand me?) – mich is accusative (direct object of “understand”).
4. Er hat einen Bruder. (He has a brother.) – einen Bruder is accusative (object of “has”).
5. Wo ist Thomas? Hast du ihn gesehen? (Where is Thomas? Have you seen him?) – ihn (him) is accusative, referring to Thomas as the direct object of “seen.”

How did you do? If you got some wrong, revisit the explanations above, especially the parts about articles and pronouns. Keep practicing sentences, and it will soon become second nature to choose the correct case.

Conclusion & Next Steps

Mastering the difference between the nominative and accusative cases in German is a big step toward clearer and more accurate German sentences. To recap, remember that the nominative marks the subject (the performer of the action), while the accusative marks the direct object (the receiver of the action). Pay special attention to masculine nouns and pronouns, since they show the biggest changes (der → den, ich → mich, etc.) when shifting from nominative to accusative. With these tools, you can now reliably tell who is doing what to whom in a German sentence, which is essential for both understanding and being understood correctly.

As you continue your German learning journey, make sure to reinforce this knowledge. Read simple German sentences and try to identify the cases, or create your own example sentences for extra practice. You might also want to explore the other cases (dative and genitive) to complete the picture of the German case system – each case has its own uses and challenges. For further learning, check out our related German grammar guides on Deutsch.wtf (such as our guides on the dative case, German word order, and pronoun usage) to deepen your understanding. The more you immerse yourself in these concepts, the more intuitively you’ll apply them.

Finally, don’t forget to test your skills! Practice truly makes perfect when it comes to grammar. Ready to check your understanding? Test your knowledge with our interactive German cases quiz! It’s a fun way to see how well you can apply nominative vs. accusative (and the other cases) in context. Viel Erfolg beim Lernen – good luck with your learning!