The Akkusativ Case
Objects in German

Subject vs Object — why the article changes

In German, the article in front of a noun changes to show its role in the sentence. The Nominativ (subject) is who is doing the action. The Akkusativ (direct object) is what is being acted upon.

In English, word order tells you who is doing what. "The dog bites the man" vs "The man bites the dog" — same words, different meaning, because of position. In German, cases carry that information. So German can rearrange words for emphasis — the case endings signal the role, not the position.

The article table — what changes and what stays

This table is the core of the Akkusativ. Study it until you can produce the correct form without thinking. The orange cells are the changes — everything else stays the same as the Nominativ.

Verbs that take the Akkusativ

Transitive verbs — verbs that pass their action onto an object — take the Akkusativ. These are the most common action verbs in German. When you use any of these verbs, the direct object takes the Akkusativ article. Tap each card to hear a sentence.

Negation — kein and nicht

German has two ways to say "no/not" — kein and nicht. Choosing the wrong one is one of the most common A1 mistakes. The rule is simple once you see it.

kein follows the same pattern as ein/eine/ein — so in the Akkusativ, masculine kein adds -en just like ein → einen.

Akkusativ prepositions — always den, never der

Certain prepositions always take the Akkusativ. This means the noun after them always uses the Akkusativ article — even if it would otherwise be the subject of a sentence. Memorise this list. It is short and fixed.

Akkusativ in real Goethe sentences

The Akkusativ appears in every section of the Goethe exam. These are the real sentence patterns the examiner uses. Read, hear, and internalise each one.