For example, if it’s the direct object, it will change to den (Accusative case). We already talked above about the difference between accusative & dative pronouns and general points on when to use which. Because word order is freer in German grammar, we use the accusative case to mark the direct object in a sentence by using different personal pronouns and changing the ending of masculine possessive pronouns. after certain prepositions e.g. Accusative case changes "du" to "dich". That’s huge! durch, für, gegen, ohne, um Example: But we can’t say I see they (<– that’s a nominative pronoun!). Only the masculine possessive pronouns differ from the nominative. The accusative case is used not only when the noun or pronoun is the direct object of a sentence or a clause, but also when it follows certain prepositions: durch, für, gegen, ohne, and um. But, to speak German, we have to learn how to make the distinction between accusative & dative. Introduction. after certain verbs (accusative object), e. g. as the direct object in sentences with more than one object, Pronomen Akkusativ – Personalpronomen (1), Pronomen Akkusativ – Personalpronomen (2), Pronomen Akkusativ – Personalpronomen (3), Pronomen Akkusativ – Personalpronomen (4), Pronomen Akkusativ – Possessivbegleiter (maskulin), Pronomen Akkusativ – Possessivbegleiter (feminin), Pronomen Akkusativ – Possessivbegleiter (neutral), Pronomen Akkusativ – Possessivbegleiter (Plural), Pronomen Akkusativ – Possessivbegleiter (gemischt 1), Pronomen Akkusativ – Possessivbegleiter (gemischt 2), Pronomen Akkusativ – Possessivpronomen als Begleiter/Ersatz. The only thing that is left is to dissect our accusative pronouns table one final time, noticing patterns (to help us remember the pronouns more easily) and cutting out material wherever we can (so we don’t have to remember as many!). Now, you’re ready to talk about the difference between nominative and accusative pronouns (that’s why you’re here after all!). Learn the declension of German pronouns in the accusative case online with Lingolia then practise pronoun declension in the exercises. You can see this difference between English & German laid out in this graphic: So, in English we have just the one set of ‘object’ pronouns that covers both the accusative & dative cases (which, in English, are collectively called the objective case). Possessive pronoun endings(i.e. Both languages have pronouns such as I, you, he, she, we, they, us, me, him, etc. With Lingolia Plus you can access 11 additional exercises about Accusative, as well as 843 online exercises to improve your German. The good thing here is that most of the pronouns behave in the same way as the articles, so we already know how to use the accusative of most of them. Thankfully, this issue is relevant ONLY in the 3rd person singular and I’ll show you a shortcut for how to remember the different, gendered versions of ‘it’ (keep reading!). That’s easy enough. Then, same thing for feminine noun objects / pronouns and neuter noun objects / pronouns. ← Yikes. All of these nouns are non-people. Its purpose is to clearly demonstrate the direct object of the sentence, or the person/thing receiving the action. Keep reading for the practical whens & hows of accusative pronouns: when exactly do you use them (<– there’s a rule for that) and how do you pick the right one (<– we’ll hash that out, too). I like to ride bike — Ich fahre gern Fahrrad.You need to brush your teeth — Du musst dir die Zähne putzen.You (formal) are most welcome here — Sie heißen hier herzlich willkommen!He plays viola quite well — Er spielt gut Bratsche.She enjoys juggling — Sie mag das Jonglieren. German & English both have nominative pronouns or ‘subject pronouns’. In English, all things are just ‘it’. Examples: Ich mag dich. (Katze is dative, Maus is accusative.) We have already established that you can assume that the 2nd noun in your sentence is in the accusative case. Let’s break down the components for the accusative nouns in our example sentences. In German, we use ‘it’, too — but the gendered forms of it! First, we have to quickly lay the foundation with nominative pronouns. (I like you.) In the 2nd person, you also have to distinguish between the formal & informal forms (, In the 3rd person, even if you are talking about a noun, In constructing sentences, after we establish the. You even just tackled the different sie / Sie forms and gendered ‘it’s! Now, look at these German examples of this two-part rule in play (accusative is italicized): NOTE: if you don’t understand why there are different versions of the word ‘the’, read my Der Die Das guide! This means that if you’re replacing a masculine noun object with a pronoun, the pronoun also has to be masculine. Ohne ihn will sie nicht aus dem Haus gehen. Here are our same 3 example sentences from above, but with the gendered pronouns (‘it’) (bolded) now! Got it. For a basic sentence, we need 1-2 components: That’s not so bad! Hopefully the concept of how to use accusative pronouns when talking about people seems pretty straightforward to you now. you, he, we) that replace nouns or noun phrases. Karin is looking for her hat. You can do that! Yeek. Except for the masculine gender, endings in the Accusative case are exactly similar to those in the nominative case. But sometimes we’re talking about objects (e.g. Good News: for the most part, English & German pronouns are more similar than different. Choosing nominative vs. accusative pronouns = EASY. ), the masculine, feminine, and neuter versions of ‘it’ (read below! Sie hat nur den Hut ihres Vaters gefunden, nicht ihren. (sie is accusative, Katze is dative.) den Apfel — a masculine noun put into the accusative casedas Mäuschen — a neuter noun put into the accusative casedie Blume — a feminine noun put into the accusative case. ), for example: Hopefully, nominative case pronouns are making sense. Sie hat nur den Hut ihres Vaters gefunden, nicht ihren. Fortunately, there are some quick-and-easy rules for that! English has ‘object’ pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, you [all], them that you saw above) that get used for BOTH the accusative AND dative cases. The first noun is the subject (nominative case) and then we default to the next noun being a direct object (accusative case). But now we need some examples! Pronouns And The Accusative Case. It’s really just a matter of sentence structure. Your German will sound more authentic if you don’t repeat all those nouns, but use pronouns instead (e.g. In German, just as with English, we can replace the subject and direct object with pronouns in order to reduce repetition. Accusative case changes "du" to "dich". The accusative case, also the accusative object or direct object, follows certain verbs and prepositions. The most important slot — that gets filled up first — is the nominative. Exercises Example : Ich sehe dich , aber du siehst mich nicht. These exercises require you to recognize and supply dative pronouns. . And the key exception to #2 is this: some particular (<– read: memorizable) verbs, adjectives, and prepositions require that the following noun be in the dative case. The accusative case declensions (chart provided) perfectly match the declensions on the 3rd Person Pronouns, so that is an even easier way to memorize them. Working on using pronouns to replace nouns can really bring your German up to the next level. Accusative Case – Declension of Pronouns in German Grammar, Declension Table: German Pronouns in Accusative, Overview of the Genitive, Dative and Accusative. Personal Pronouns And The Accusative Case. In this case it is second person singular pronoun "dich". To help simplify things, note that the reflexive and personal pronouns are the same, except for the third person pronoun. In this sentence, "I" is the subject pronoun, like is the verb and "you" is an object pronoun (in German accusative). We’ll also suss out areas of common confusion & mistakes so you can avoid those pitfalls! If a pronoun is the direct object, then it is placed before the indirect object in a sentence. Especially when you’re replacing a LOT of words, pronouns come in very handy! Frank → heMy old friend Frank → heFrank, the nice, tall, balding man over there who is my old friend from high school → he. Possessive pronoun endings follow the endings used for ein, and accusative relative pronouns are the same as accusative definite articles. Or with a pronoun: Ich gebe ihr die Maus. Explaination: The verb "mögen" (to like) takes a direct object. ): Can you see how ‘I’ is the subject (nominative ‘slot’ [case]) of the sentence each time? Dative pronouns. Now, look at this accusative case snippet of what I call the All-In-One Declensions Chart: The -n, -s, -e strong declensions listed in the chart snippet are the same last letters we see on the accusative pronouns ihn, es, sie, and sie.