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The Amazing "DER/DIE/DAS" Tables!

(German noun gender and cases/adjectives endings)

Adjective endings are highlighted red

PDF versions of this table and its notes for printing: black&white (47 Kb) or colour (51 Kb)

Presented here with gratitude to C Gosling (© 1996); web-formatting by D Nutting

| Nominative | Accusative | Dative | Genitive | Notes |

NOMINATIVE CASE (subject of a sentence / labelling)

After the verb "sein" (to be) - e.g. Er ist ein netter Mann.

Practise it! Do this practice exercise on German noun gender (Nominative).

An example of Nominative [subject] case and a neuter noun: "The revolutionary low-energy house!" (Austria)

A letterbox...
♦ An example of Nominative [subject] case and a feminine noun: "No advertising"
♦ An example of Nominative [subject] case and a noun in the plural: "No free newspapers" (Germany)

ACCUSATIVE CASE (direct object / movement)

With the prepositions: durch (see photo example below), für, gegen, ohne, um (see photo example below), bis, entlang

With 'two-way' prepositions (see Note 2)

Practise it! Do this practice exercise on subject (Nominative) and object (Accusative).

An example of Accusative [direct object] case and a masculine noun: "Farmers need a fair price" (Germany)

An example of an Accusative preposition and a masculine noun: "Without freezing through the winter" (Switzerland)

An example of an Accusative preposition and a feminine noun (Ecke): "around the corner [first floor]" (Germany)

An example of an Accusative preposition (für) and a masculine noun (Sommer): "for the summer" (supermarket in Switzerland)

DATIVE CASE (indirect object / location)

With the prepositions: aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu, ab, außer, gegenüber, entgegen

After the verbs: danken, helfen, folgen, drohen, glauben, gehören, begegnen

With 'two-way' prepositions (see Note 2)

Notice: nouns in Dative plural get an -n added on if they don't already happen to have one.

An example of a preposition with Dative case and a feminine noun: "Cyclists permitted on Station Street" (Austria)

An example of a preposition with Dative case and plural noun: "With 90 new cards" (packaging box with a card game)

Another example of a preposition with Dative case and plural noun: "In difficult times, in good hands" (an election campaign poster in Austria)

Another example of a preposition with Dative case and plural noun - "Hinter den Abschrankungen...". (Jungfrau Mountain, Switzerland)

An example of a preposition with Dative case and masculine noun (der See / to the lake). (Bodensee / Lake Constance, Austria)

An example of a preposition with Dative case and feminine noun (die Burg / to the castle). (Germany)

GENITIVE CASE (possession/ownership)

With the prepositions: statt, trotz, während, wegen, innerhalb, außerhalb, an Stelle

Notice: add "es" or "s" to masculine or neuter nouns.

Here's a document (PDF), that explains the Genitive case, with photos.

Anja's series of YouTube videos includes a video that introduces the Genitive case.

Practise using the genitive case: "Kaufen Sie dieses Haus!" - cloze reading text

An example of Genitive [possession] case and a feminine noun: "Today is the most beautiful day of the week" (Austria)

An example of Genitive [possession] case and a neuter noun (unseres Teams): "Become part of our team!" (Germany)

An example of Genitive [possession] case and a plural noun: "Pirates of the seas" (children's book)

Notes

NOTE 1: Same table, same patterns

a) Use the der/die/das (the) rows of the table for the following:

dies- (this), jed- (every [singular]), solch- (such), welch- ?(which?), jen- (that), alle (all [plural])

In the case of viele (many), mehrere/einige (several), wenige (fewer/less): they operate as ordinary adjectives, i.e. other adjectives coming after them have the same adjective ending.
(e.g. Nominative: dieser lustige Mann / diese lustige Frau / dieses lustige Buch / diese lustigen Clowns)

b) Use the ein/eine/ein (a/an) rows of the table for the following:

kein (no/not a), mein (my), dein (your), sein (his/its), ihr (her/its), unser (our), euer (your: referring to more than one) and Ihr (Your: polite).

NOTE 2: "Two-way" prepositions: Accusative OR Dative

vor (in front of), hinter (behind), über (over/above), unter (under, below), zwischen (between), neben (next to), in (in), an (on/against), auf (on top of)

Use the Accusative when there is movement involved

e.g. Ich stelle die Vase auf den Tisch. (Describes the process of being moved)

Ich gehe über die Brücke. (Describes movement over the bridge)

Use the Dative if no movement is implied

e.g. Die Vase steht auf dem Tisch. (Describes the location of the subject / where it is)

Ich bin/stehe auf der Brücke. (Describes where I am / no movement)

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