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My inquiry is whether or not I should use the nominative der or the accusative den in the sentence "Wann wird der (oder den) Kuchen für uns bereit sein?"

Is it accusative since the main verb in the construction "wird bereit sein" = "will be ready" is sein?

What grammatical function then do the words "wird" and "bereit" have in this sentence? Are they auxiliary verbs?

Any insight would be helpful! :)

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  • What makes you think, the case is determined by the main verb? If you rely on a book/rule, could you please cite it? There seems to be a misunderstanding of some sort...
    – Arsak
    Commented Jul 27, 2018 at 12:00
  • Yes you are correct, I was not paying attention when I asked this question but Dirk's answer cleared this up for me. I'm still wondering though, what grammatical function in German the words "wird" and "bereit" serve in this sentence? If "sein" is the main verb then are "wird" and "bereit" auxiliary or helping verbs?
    – Soung Paek
    Commented Jul 27, 2018 at 12:05

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Wann wird der Kuchen für uns bereit sein?

What grammatical function then do the words "wird" and "bereit" have in this sentence? Are they auxiliary verbs?

Bereit is an adjective, and as you can see from the missing case ending, it's used as an adverb.

Wird is third person singular (The subject der Kuchen does this) of the auxiliary werden, which marks the Futur I tense if used with an infinitive (here: sein). As an alternative, you may use the Präsens tense.

Wann ist der Kuchen für uns bereit?

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You don't have to look for the main verb, you have to look for the subject.
The subject in this sentence is "der Kuchen", so it is der, not den.

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