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Jun 7, 2022 · The term declension in the German language describes the inflection (change) of nouns, articles, pronouns and adjectives according to the four cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive. You will also have to consider the grammatical gender (Genus) and whether a noun is singular or plural (Numerus).
First of all: articles are the small words that come before the noun (der, die, das; ein, eine …). Their form is declined (changed) depending on the case (nominative, accusative, dative or genitive). The noun itself generally stays the same. See below to learn how each article changes in each case.
Capitalized Nouns. One important thing as we get started: All nouns are written with the first letter capitalized. "the house" is written as "das Haus". Genders. There are three genders in German: masculine (männlich), feminine (weiblich) and neuter (sächlich). Usually, the gender of a noun is determined by its ending.
- What Is The Nominative Case?
- What Is The Accusative Case?
- What Is The Dative Case?
- What Is The genitive Case?
The nominative case is the basic form of the noun (the endings don’t change). We use the nominative for the subjectof the sentence; i.e., the person or thing that ‘does’ the verb. Ask who? or what? (wer?/was?)to determine the nominative. Example: 1. Der Schreibtisch sieht schön aus.The desk looks nice. 2. was sieht gut aus? → der Schreibtisch Jump ...
The accusative case is for the direct object; i.e. the person or thing that ‘receives’ the action of the verb. Ask what? (wen?/was?)to find the direct object. Example: 1. Ich nutze den Schreibtisch jeden Tag.I use the desk every day. 2. was nutze ich jeden Tag? → den Schreibtisch The main change we see with the accusative is that der/ein becomes de...
The dative case is for the indirect object. We ask to whom/which? or for whom/which? (wem?)to find the indirect object. Example: 1. Ich gab dem Schreibtisch eine neue Farbe.I gave the desk a new colour. 2. wem gab ich die neue Farbe? → dem Schreibtisch Jump to the dative signal words.
The genitive case indicates possession or belonging. The genitive case has a similar meaning to the English ’s or of. Ask whose? (wessen?)to find the genitive. Example: 1. Das Bein des Schreibtisches ist kaputt.The leg of the desk is broken. or:The desk’s leg is broken. 2. wessen Bein ist kaputt? → das Bein des Schreibtisches Skip ahead to the sign...
Sep 23, 2024 · Step 1: Child = Kind, which is a neuter noun. Step 2: Kind is the subject of the sentence, so we need the nominative case. Step 3: If we intersect the neuter (green) with the nominative row, we have 3 declension options: Then, you just need to pick the correct declensions of the three.
The nouns of the German language have several properties, some unique. As in many related Indo-European languages, German nouns possess a grammatical gender; the three genders are masculine, feminine, and neuter. Words for objects without obvious masculine or feminine characteristics like 'bridge' or 'rock' can be masculine or feminine.
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Nov 21, 2023 · In German, nouns will change their articles or endings depending on the case, number, and gender. In accusative, dative, and genitive, the articles of the nouns change and get the ending -en or -n ...
