German Accusative Case Explained

What is the German accusative case?

The German accusative case is usually used for the direct object: the person or thing directly affected by an action. In beginner German, the most visible change is often der → den, as in Ich sehe den Mann.

German accusative case explained simply

The accusative is one of the four German cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.

The nominative case is normally used for the subject of the sentence: the person or thing doing the action. The accusative case is usually used for the direct object: the person or thing receiving the action directly.

In English, this difference is mostly shown by word order. German shows it more clearly through article changes. The most important beginner pattern is: der Mann becomes den Mann.

When do you use the German accusative case?

The German accusative case is most commonly used in three situations:

1. For direct objects

The direct object is the thing or person that the verb acts on directly.

Ich sehe den Mann. I see the man.

Sie kauft das Brot. She buys the bread.

2. After certain German prepositions

Some German prepositions always require the accusative case.

Ich gehe durch den Park. I walk through the park.

Das Geschenk ist für den Lehrer. The present is for the teacher.

3. With movement toward a place

Some two-way prepositions can take the accusative when there is movement toward a destination.

Ich gehe in den Supermarkt. I go into the supermarket.

Sie legt das Buch auf den Tisch. She puts the book onto the table.

German accusative prepositions

The most important German accusative prepositions for beginners are:

durch • für • gegen • ohne • um

When one of these prepositions appears before a noun, the noun phrase usually needs the accusative form.

ohne den Hund without the dog

für die Frau for the woman

German accusative article forms: den, die and das

Gender	Nominative	Accusative
Masculine	der Mann	den Mann
Feminine	die Frau	die Frau
Neuter	das Kind	das Kind
Plural	die Kinder	die Kinder

The key beginner rule is simple: in the accusative case, only the masculine article changes. That is why der becomes den, but die, das and plural die stay the same.

German accusative vs dative

One of the most common questions is the difference between German accusative and dative.

Ich sehe den Mann. Accusative: the man is directly affected by the action.

Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch. Dative: the man receives something.

A simple beginner rule is:

Accusative = direct object
Dative = indirect object

Common German accusative mistakes

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A common beginner mistake is forgetting that der changes to den in the accusative. Say Ich sehe den Mann, not Ich sehe der Mann.

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Do not change every article. In the accusative, feminine die, neuter das and plural die usually stay the same.

German accusative cheat sheet

der → den
die → die
das → das
die → die

durch → accusative
für → accusative
gegen → accusative
ohne → accusative
um → accusative

Practice what you just learned

Now it's time to use the German accusative case yourself. Start with focused accusative exercises, then practice German articles, sentence structure and reading comprehension to see the accusative in real German.