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Learning German cases (die Fälle) is one of the first big steps for A1 learners. Cases tell you how a noun is used in a sentence — who is doing something, who receives something, and who something belongs to. Once you understand the cases, German sentences become much easier to read and build.

English mostly relies on word order to show meaning. German uses articles (der, die, das) and endings to do the same job — which is why the articles you already know can change depending on where a noun sits in the sentence.

Nominative Wer? / Was? The subject
Accusative Wen? / Was? Direct object
Dative Wem? Indirect object
Genitive Wessen? Possession
A1 priority: Focus on Nominative and Accusative first — these cover the vast majority of sentences you will read and write at this level. Dative appears in a handful of key verbs and prepositions. Genitive is A1 recognition only.
NOM

Nominative Case

The case of the subject

Wer? / Was? — Who or what is doing the action?

The nominative marks the person or thing performing the action. It is the base form of the article — the one you learn first when you look up any German noun.

GenderDefinite ArticleIndefinite Article
Masculinederein
Femininedieeine
Neuterdasein
Pluraldie—
Der Mann schläft.The man is sleeping.
Die Frau arbeitet.The woman is working.
Das Kind spielt.The child is playing.
Die Kinder lachen.The children are laughing.
AKK

Accusative Case

The case of the direct object

Wen? / Was? — Whom or what receives the action?

The accusative marks the person or thing directly receiving the action. The great news for beginners: only the masculine article changes. Everything else stays identical to the nominative.

GenderNominativeAccusative
Masculineder / einden / einen
Femininedie / einedie / eine
Neuterdas / eindas / ein
Pluraldie / —die / —
Ich sehe den Mann.I see the man.
Sie hat die Tasche.She has the bag.
Wir kaufen das Auto.We are buying the car.
Er hört die Kinder.He hears the children.

These verbs always take an accusative object — learn them and you will know when to use den / einen:

haben — to have brauchen — to need sehen — to see mögen — to like kaufen — to buy hören — to hear
DAT

Dative Case

The case of the indirect object

Wem? — To whom or for whom?

The dative marks the person receiving something or benefiting from the action. At A1, it appears most often after certain verbs and a fixed set of prepositions.

GenderNominativeDative
Masculineder / eindem / einem
Femininedie / eineder / einer
Neuterdas / eindem / einem
Pluraldie / —den + n / —
Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch.I give the man the book.
Sie hilft der Frau.She helps the woman.
Wir zeigen dem Kind ein Bild.We show the child a picture.
Er schreibt den Freunden.He writes to the friends.

Common dative verbs — these always take a dative object:

helfen — to help danken — to thank gehören — to belong to geben — to give

Dative prepositions — these always trigger the dative, without exception:

mitwith
nachafter / to
beiat / near
vonfrom / of
zuto
ausfrom / out of
GEN

Genitive Case

The case of possession

Wessen? — Whose?

The genitive shows ownership or belonging. At A1, you only need to be able to recognise it — you will not be expected to produce it freely until B1.

Das Auto des Mannes.The man's car.
Das Buch der Frau.The woman's book.

These genitive prepositions appear in written German — recognise them when you see them:

trotzdespite
währendduring
wegenbecause of

Quick Summary

All four cases at a glance — save this table as your go-to reference.

CaseFunctionKey QuestionExample
Nominative Subject Wer? / Was? Der Hund schläft.
Accusative Direct object Wen? / Was? Ich sehe den Hund.
Dative Indirect object Wem? Ich gebe dem Kind das Buch.
Genitive Possession Wessen? Das Auto des Mannes.

Practice

Type the correct article for each sentence, then press Check Answers.

Fill in the article

Choose the correct definite article based on the gender and case shown.

  1. 1 Nominative Hund sieht den Ball.
    (masculine) — The dog sees the ball.
  2. 2 Accusative Ich gebe Ball dem Kind.
    (masculine) — I give the ball to the child.
  3. 3 Dative Wir fahren mit Auto.
    (neuter, after mit) — We are going by car.
  4. 4 Nominative Frau hat die Tasche.
    (feminine) — The woman has the bag.
  5. 5 Dative Sie hilft Frau.
    (feminine, dative) — She helps the woman.