23

Is it just an idiom, or is it a general rule?

I'm wishing a good day to someone, so I guess there is some kind of metaphorical motion involved. Would it be similar if I wanted to say "vielen Spaß"?

Improve this question
1
  • "I guess there is some kind of metaphorical motion involved" - if this alludes to the location/motion distinction between dative and accusative, it may be based on a misconception: That distinction is relevant only after a fixed set of prepositions; in addition to that, dative and accusative can well appear in plenty of places because the verb or the sentence structure they are related to demands a particular case.
    – O. R. Mapper
    Nov 12, 2019 at 8:29

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
34

As you correctly say, you are wishing a good day to someone. German "wünschen" (to wish) demands accusative case for the object of the wish, hence in

Ich wünsche Ihnen einen guten Tag.

said good day is accusative. The same is true for the shorter "Guten Tag", where the rest of the sentence is implied.

"Viel Spaß" is also accusative. The reason there is no case marker is that "viel" (eng. "much") is not an adjective but a quantifier, in this case for a mass noun. As such, it doesn't change its form. (It does in the sense of "many", but that is a different matter.)

Improve this answer
9

It is a general rule. "Guten Tag" is short for

Ich wünsche Ihnen/Dir einen guten Tag.

which means

I wish you a good day.

Same with "Viel Spaß" or "Gute Besserung".

Ich wünsche dir viel Spaß / eine gute Besserung.

Compare this to

I wish you a Merry Christmas.

You have to ask the question: Who wishes whom what? (Wer wünscht wem was?)

My wish is directed to the other person, so that is dative. But what I wish is the normal accusative, I think in English it's just called direct object.

Improve this answer
0
3

The explanation suggested for "viel Spaß" doesn't seem to work for "vielen Dank" (or "besten Dank", "herzlichen Dank", etc.), but I can't see a logical distinction.

I believe there are some idiomatic expressions that simply do not behave consistently; perhaps these are examples.

Improve this answer
2
  • The confusion here comes from "viel" being not always inflected. Often "viel" is not inflected (see e.g.Duden).
    – Takkat
    Dec 30, 2012 at 21:17
  • @Takkat Or have a look at the answer from Elena ;)
    – Em1
    Dec 31, 2012 at 13:51
1

Greeting another person = Akkusativ as the subject (you) and object (the person) are different. Tag is masculine and so it has the article der. According to the rule, you should end with an 'n' to the adjective/article. So der becomes den and Gute becomes Guten. That's why we say Guten Tag!. Also, we don't say Guten Nacht, rather we say Gute Nacht as Nacht is feminine.

Another example:

Lesen Sie den Text

It's der Text which became den Text.

I hope this helps.

Improve this answer
0

I agree with the other answers, which basically say the indefinite article "einen" is implied in the common sense of the greeting. But it may also be helpful to consider a dative case:

Ich sah sie an einem guten Tag.

"I saw her on a good day." The indefinite article is different, but the adjective ending is the same, which perhaps led to the confusion. The nominative case is so common and obvious in day to day speech that the indefinite article can be omitted when greeting someone.

Improve this answer
1
  • 3
    A nice effort, but I'm not sure this answer addresses the actual question about wishing someone a good day. An object receiving action (being wished to someone) must be in the accusative here.
    – Kevin
    Nov 14, 2012 at 7:01

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.