The short answer
German marks the role of each noun with a case. The nominative is the subject, the accusative is usually the direct object, the dative is usually the person who receives something, and the genitive shows possession. You find the case by asking wer, wen, wem or wessen, and you mostly see it on the article and the pronoun. Many verbs and prepositions always choose the case for you, so learning them in groups does most of the work.
What a case actually does
In English, word order tells you who does what. “The dog bites the man” and “the man bites the dog” use the same words, and only their position changes the meaning. German works differently: the case shows each noun's role, so the words can move around without changing who bites whom.
Der Hund beißt den Mann.
The dog bites the man.
Den Mann beißt der Hund.
The dog bites the man. Same meaning: den Mann is still the object, it is just put first for emphasis.
Der Mann beißt den Hund.
The man bites the dog. Now the roles have changed, and so have the articles.
English still has a few traces of its old case system. You say he, but “I see him” and “his car”; you say who, whom and whose. German keeps this system for every noun phrase. The noun itself usually stays the same, while the article, the pronoun and any adjective in front of it change.
This article goes further than the basics of der, die and das. If gender is still new to you, start with our article on German articles, which explains the three genders and the endings that reveal them. Here we look at how to recognize each case, which verbs and prepositions trigger it, and how Germans really use the genitive.
The four cases at a glance
Each case has a main job and a question word that helps you find it. The question words themselves are case forms of wer, who: wer is the nominative, wen the accusative, wem the dative and wessen the genitive. Once you can ask the right question, the right article follows.
| Case | Question | Main job | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Wer? Was? | the subject; also after sein, werden and bleiben | Der Lehrer erklärt die Regel. |
| Accusative | Wen? Was? | the direct object; after durch, für, gegen, ohne and um | Ich frage den Lehrer. |
| Dative | Wem? | the indirect object; after aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von and zu; after verbs like helfen | Ich danke dem Lehrer. |
| Genitive | Wessen? | possession; after wegen, trotz, während and statt | Das ist das Buch des Lehrers. |
For things rather than people, both the nominative and the accusative use was: Was liegt da? Was siehst du?
How to find the case: ask the question
Start with the verb, then ask about each noun. Wer does the action? That noun is in the nominative. Wen or was does the action affect? That is the accusative. Wem is it given, said or done for? That is the dative. Take a sentence with all three:
Der Vater schenkt dem Sohn einen Ball.
Wer schenkt? Der Vater: nominative, the subject.
Der Vater schenkt dem Sohn einen Ball.
Wem schenkt er den Ball? Dem Sohn: dative, the person who receives it.
Der Vater schenkt dem Sohn einen Ball.
Was schenkt er? Einen Ball: accusative, the thing given.
Der Ball des Sohnes ist rot.
Wessen Ball? Der Ball des Sohnes: genitive, the owner.
The nominative after sein, werden and bleiben
One trap catches almost every learner. After sein (to be), werden (to become) and bleiben (to stay), the noun that describes the subject is also in the nominative, not the accusative. There is no object here: both sides of the verb refer to the same person.
Mein Bruder ist ein guter Koch.
My brother is a good cook. (nominative, not einen guten Koch)
Sie wird eine bekannte Ärztin.
She is becoming a well-known doctor.
Er bleibt mein bester Freund.
He remains my best friend.
The accusative of time
Time expressions without a preposition are in the accusative: den ganzen Tag (all day), jeden Montag (every Monday), nächsten Monat (next month), letzte Woche (last week). You only notice it with masculine nouns, where der becomes den, but it explains why Germans say “Ich arbeite den ganzen Tag” and not “der ganze Tag”.
Articles and pronouns in all four cases
The case shows up first on the article. The table below puts the definite and the indefinite article side by side, so you can see that they follow the same pattern. Possessives like mein, dein and unser, and the negative kein, take the same endings as ein.
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der / ein | die / eine | das / ein | die / keine |
| Accusative | den / einen | die / eine | das / ein | die / keine |
| Dative | dem / einem | der / einer | dem / einem | den / keinen |
| Genitive | des / eines | der / einer | des / eines | der / keiner |
In the genitive, masculine and neuter nouns add -s or -es (des Mannes, des Autos). In the dative plural, the noun adds -n unless its plural already ends in -n or -s (den Kindern, but den Autos).
A few patterns make this easier to remember. Masculine and neuter share dem and des in the dative and genitive. The feminine der in the dative and genitive looks like the masculine nominative, so “der” on its own can mean several things; the context tells you which. And the dative always ends in -m, -r or -n: dem, der, den.
Personal pronouns
Pronouns change more than articles, and they are used all the time, so they deserve their own table. The genitive forms of pronouns (meiner, deiner) are rare in modern German, so learners can safely focus on three columns.
| Nominative | Accusative | Dative | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | mich | mir | I, me |
| du | dich | dir | you (informal) |
| er | ihn | ihm | he, him |
| sie | sie | ihr | she, her |
| es | es | ihm | it |
| wir | uns | uns | we, us |
| ihr | euch | euch | you (plural) |
| sie / Sie | sie / Sie | ihnen / Ihnen | they, them / you (formal) |
Ihr has two jobs: it is “you all” in the nominative and “to her” in the dative. Ihr kommt (you all come), but ich helfe ihr (I help her).
Mir or mich?
Ask the question. Wen siehst du? Mich: accusative. Wem gibst du das Buch? Mir: dative. The same goes for dich and dir, uns and euch. If the verb is one of the dative verbs below, it is always mir and dir.
Verbs that take the dative
Most verbs with one object take the accusative: ich sehe den Mann, ich kaufe einen Apfel. But a group of common verbs takes the dative with their only object, even though the English verb has a direct object. These are worth learning as a set, because there is no reliable rule to predict them.
Kannst du mir helfen?
Can you help me? (helfen + dative, never mich)
Wir danken Ihnen für die Einladung.
We thank you for the invitation.
Das Fahrrad gehört meiner Schwester.
The bike belongs to my sister.
Sie antwortet dem Lehrer sofort.
She answers the teacher immediately.
Ich gratuliere dir zum Geburtstag.
Happy birthday to you (literally: I congratulate you).
Die Suppe schmeckt den Kindern.
The children like the soup (literally: the soup tastes good to the children).
Ich glaube dir.
I believe you. (glauben takes the dative for a person)
Other common members of this group are folgen (to follow), passen (to fit, to suit), fehlen (to be missing) and gefallen. Dictionaries mark the case for you: jmdm. means dative and jmdn. means accusative, so “jmdm. helfen” tells you at a glance that helfen takes the dative.
Gefallen turns the sentence around
Gefallen is the usual way to say you like something you see or experience, and it works backwards from the English “like”. The thing you like is the subject, and the person who likes it is in the dative. “Der Film gefällt mir” means “I like the film”, literally “the film pleases me”. Since the film is the subject, the verb agrees with it: die Schuhe gefallen mir, with a plural verb.
The same structure appears in everyday phrases you learn in the first weeks. Wie geht es dir? literally asks how it goes to you. Mir ist kalt means I am cold, and es tut mir leid means I am sorry. All of these put the person in the dative.
Verbs with two objects
Verbs of giving, showing and telling often have two objects: a person in the dative and a thing in the accusative. Geben, schenken, zeigen, erklären, schicken, bringen and leihen all work this way. The word order follows a simple rule: two nouns put the dative first, a pronoun comes before a noun, and two pronouns put the accusative first.
Ich gebe dem Lehrer das Heft.
Two nouns: dative before accusative.
Ich gebe ihm das Heft.
A pronoun comes before a noun.
Ich gebe es dem Lehrer.
The pronoun es comes first, even though it is the accusative.
Ich gebe es ihm.
Two pronouns: accusative before dative.
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Prepositions decide the case
After a preposition, you do not need to ask any question: the preposition chooses the case. Most prepositions always take the same one, so they can be learned in fixed groups. Many learners simply recite each group until it sounds natural, such as “aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu” for the dative.
| Case | Prepositions | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Accusative | durch, für, gegen, ohne, um, bis | Wir gehen durch den Park. Das ist für dich. |
| Dative | aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu, gegenüber | Ich wohne bei meinen Eltern. Er kommt aus dem Haus. |
| Genitive | wegen, trotz, während, statt | Während des Kurses lernen wir viel. |
| Accusative or dative | an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen | Ich gehe in den Park. Ich bin im Park. |
Bis is usually followed by another preposition or by a name or time with no article: bis Montag, bis zum Bahnhof.
Two-way prepositions: wo? or wohin?
Nine prepositions can take either case: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor and zwischen. The Goethe-Institut sums up the rule in one line: the accusative stands for movement and answers wohin? (where to?), while the dative stands for a fixed position and answers wo? (where?). The preposition stays the same; the question decides the article.
Ich gehe in den Park. Ich bin in dem (im) Park.
Wohin? into the park: accusative. Wo? in the park: dative.
Ich stelle die Tasse auf den Tisch.
Wohin stelle ich die Tasse? Onto the table: accusative.
Die Tasse steht auf dem Tisch.
Wo steht die Tasse? On the table: dative.
Sie hängt das Bild an die Wand. Das Bild hängt an der Wand.
Movement to the wall, then position on the wall.
Die Katze springt unter das Bett und schläft unter dem Bett.
First it moves under the bed, then it stays there.
German has a set of verb pairs that match this rule exactly. The verbs of putting something somewhere describe a movement and take the accusative; the verbs of being somewhere describe a position and take the dative. The movement verbs are regular, while the position verbs are irregular, which helps you tell them apart.
| Movement: wohin? + accusative | Position: wo? + dative |
|---|---|
| legen: Ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch. | liegen: Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. |
| stellen: Ich stelle die Flasche in den Kühlschrank. | stehen: Die Flasche steht im Kühlschrank. |
| setzen: Ich setze das Kind auf den Stuhl. | sitzen: Das Kind sitzt auf dem Stuhl. |
| hängen (hängte): Ich hänge die Jacke an den Haken. | hängen (hing): Die Jacke hängt am Haken. |
Hängen is both: it is regular (hängte, gehängt) when you hang something up, and irregular (hing, gehangen) when something is hanging.
Moving is not the same as going somewhere
Wir laufen im Park means we are running around inside the park: there is movement, but no change of place, so the answer to the question is wo? and the dative. Wir laufen in den Park means we run into the park, from outside to inside: wohin? and the accusative.
With time, the two-way prepositions an, in and vor take the dative: am Montag (on Monday), in der Nacht (at night), im Sommer (in summer), vor einer Woche (a week ago). The question here is wann? (when?), not wohin?, so there is no movement to look for.
The genitive in everyday German
The genitive shows who something belongs to, like the English “of” or 's. In written German you find it everywhere: das Auto meines Vaters, die Farbe des Hauses, die Geschichte der Stadt. Names simply add -s, without an apostrophe: Annas Buch, Peters Wohnung.
Masculine and neuter nouns take an ending in the genitive singular. Short nouns often take -es (des Mannes, des Kindes, des Schlosses), longer ones -s (des Lehrers, des Fahrrads), and nouns ending in -s, -ß or -z need -es (des Hauses). Feminine nouns and plurals take no ending in the genitive: die Farbe der Tür, die Zimmer der Kinder.
In everyday speech, many Germans replace the possessive genitive with von and the dative: das Auto von meinem Vater instead of das Auto meines Vaters. Both are correct; the genitive sounds more formal and is expected in writing. The genitive also survives in fixed expressions such as eines Tages (one day) and letzten Endes (in the end).
The case after wegen (because of) is a long-running debate. Duden lists wegen with the genitive, as in wegen des schlechten Wetters, and notes that the dative, as in wegen dem Kind, is standard in speech but counts as colloquial in writing. For essays, emails at work and exams, use the genitive after wegen, trotz, während and statt.
The debate even gave a bestselling book its title. In 2004 the journalist Bastian Sick published a collection of his language columns as Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod, a joke built on a colloquial construction that replaces the genitive with a dative and a possessive.
Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod.
The n-declension: when the noun changes too
Most nouns stay the same in every case except the genitive -s and the dative plural -n. A small group of masculine nouns, called the n-declension or weak nouns, add -n or -en in every form except the nominative singular. Many of them end in -e and name people or animals: der Kollege, der Junge, der Kunde, der Löwe. Others include der Student, der Mensch and der Herr.
Der Student wohnt hier. Ich frage den Studenten.
Nominative, then accusative with -en.
Ich helfe dem Kollegen. Das ist das Büro des Kollegen.
Dative and genitive with -n.
Ich kenne Herrn Müller.
Herr adds only -n in the singular (Herrn); the plural is Herren. That is why letters are addressed to Herrn Müller.
A few nouns in this group also add -s in the genitive. Der Name becomes des Namens, and der Gedanke (the thought) becomes des Gedankens. A good dictionary shows the genitive singular next to the noun, so if it ends in -n or -en, you know the noun belongs to this group.
Adjective endings, in brief
Case also appears on adjectives, and adjective endings deserve their own lesson. The basic idea is simple: the case has to be shown once. If the article already shows it clearly, as der and dem do, the adjective takes a short ending, -e or -en: der gute Wein, mit dem guten Wein. If the article does not show it, as with ein, or if there is no article at all, the adjective takes over: ein guter Wein, mit gutem Wein.
You do not need to learn the full tables before you start speaking. Get the article right first; the adjective endings come more easily once the article system is automatic.
Common mistakes
These errors are typical with the cases, and each one breaks a rule from this article.
Wrong: Ich helfe dich.
Right: Ich helfe dir.
Helfen takes the dative, even though help has a direct object in English.
Wrong: Ich gefalle den Film.
Right: Der Film gefällt mir.
With gefallen, the thing you like is the subject and the person is in the dative.
Wrong: Ich gehe in dem Park.
Right: Ich gehe in den Park.
Going into the park answers wohin?, so in takes the accusative.
Wrong: Das Buch liegt auf den Tisch.
Right: Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch.
Liegen is a position (wo?), so auf takes the dative.
Wrong: Er ist einen guten Lehrer.
Right: Er ist ein guter Lehrer.
After sein, the noun stays in the nominative.
Wrong: Ich frage den Student.
Right: Ich frage den Studenten.
Student belongs to the n-declension and adds -en outside the nominative singular.
Wrong: Ich gebe ihm es.
Right: Ich gebe es ihm.
With two pronouns, the accusative comes before the dative.
How to practise the cases
Learn every verb together with its case, the way dictionaries write it: jmdm. helfen, jmdm. danken, jmdn. fragen. For verbs with two objects, learn a whole pattern such as jmdm. etwas geben. A short example sentence in your notes beats a long list of rules, because you remember the sentence as a unit.
Learn prepositions in their groups and always with an article, so that the case becomes part of the phrase: mit dem Bus, für meinen Bruder, wegen des Wetters. For the two-way prepositions, describe your own room out loud. Where is everything (wo?), and where are you putting it (wohin?): Das Handy liegt auf dem Tisch. Ich lege das Handy in die Tasche.
Cases become automatic through use, not through tables. Exercises with instant feedback show you right away when you wrote mich instead of mir, while the reason is still fresh. At Alimun, you also use the cases every week in live classes with a teacher and the same small group, and your teacher corrects your homework, so the mistakes above stop being yours one by one.
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Questions people ask
Which German case should I learn first?
Start with the nominative and the accusative, which together cover most simple sentences. Add the dative next, with the dative verbs and prepositions, and leave the genitive for last, since spoken German often replaces it.
Do Germans still use the genitive?
Yes. It is normal in writing, in names (Annas Buch), in fixed expressions and after prepositions such as wegen, trotz and während. In everyday speech, many people say von plus the dative instead, as in das Auto von meinem Vater.
Is “wegen dem” wrong?
Duden lists wegen with the genitive and describes the dative as standard in speech but colloquial in writing. Use wegen des in anything written, especially in exams.
How do I know which case a verb takes?
Look at the dictionary entry: jmdm. means the verb takes a dative, jmdn. an accusative. Most verbs with one object take the accusative, so the dative verbs such as helfen, danken, gefallen and gehören are the ones to learn as a group.
Do German nouns change with the case?
Usually only a little: masculine and neuter nouns add -s or -es in the genitive singular, and most nouns add -n in the dative plural. The exception is the n-declension, a group of masculine nouns like der Student that add -n or -en in every case except the nominative singular.
Sources: Duden: wegen, DWDS: helfen, DWDS: gefallen, DWDS: Student, DWDS: Herr, Goethe-Institut: Spickzettel Wechselpräpositionen.
