Questions tagged [accusative]

Akkusativ – Relating to the grammatical case that marks typically the direct object of a verb or the object of any of several prepositions

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Why does "fragen" take two accusatives?

Ich muss dich etwas fragen. — Duolingo (If the above is wrong, so is the premise of this question, so please correct it if need be!) Does this sentence not have two direct objects? Why does the ...
Luke Sawczak's user avatar
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7 answers
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Accusative vs Dative: "Schau in der/die Schublade!"

What is correct? Q: "Wo sind meine Socken?" A: "Schau in der Schublade" vs "Schau in die Schublade" As a Swiss German speaker not very adept at proper German grammar I feel that both are somehow ...
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Why isn't "Ich danke dir" "Ich danke dich?"

I believe that in the sentence Ich danke 'du/dir/dich' that: ich = subject danke = verb du = direct object. Wouldn't that mean that it would be "Ich danke dich"? I hear people say "Ich ...
Darkenor's user avatar
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In German, can I have a sentence with multiple cases?

I started to study German recently and just got to the point of the German cases. So far only nominative and accusative actually but I’m getting aware there are more. I thought one sentence will be ...
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Should one necessarily learn, when a verb goes with a dative object and when with accusative one?

Should one necessarily learn, when a verb goes with a dative object and when with an accusative one, or can it be deduced? How to determine if a verb in question induces *accusative or dative? If ...
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Why is the size written in accusative?

In the following sentence Es ist nur einen Zentimeter groß. why is it written with Accusative and not Nominative?
Frau Ferry's user avatar
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Dativ von „jemand anderes“ – „jemandem anderen“ oder „jemand anderem“?

Wie wird am geläufigsten der Dativ und der Akkusativ von „jemand anderes“ gebildet? Gibt es ein Prinzip, nach welchem hier die Objektfälle gebildet werden, und wie lässt sich diese Frage ...
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Für mich VS. mir

Here are two sentences from Studio D, and why is one using für mich and another mir? Können Sie mir die Verbindung bitte ausdrucken? Können Sie einen Platz für mich reservieren? Are für mich and mir ...
Magicbeanbuyer's user avatar
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"für dich" or "dir"?

Would you say, for example, Bin ich dir zu laut? or Bin ich zu laut für dich? Relatedly, how do you know to use accusive vs. dative when it English it´s unclear such as 'That´s too late for ...
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Dative vs Accusative

I was doing some dative preposition exercises to familiarize myself with how they use it in german. I came across this sentence Ich spreche mit meinem Bruder Why is it "mit meinem" and not "mit ...
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Is "Guten Morgen" in the accusative? Are all greetings so? [duplicate]

After looking up the declension of "gut", I would expect to see "guter Morgen" as opposed to "guten Morgen". The only conclusion I can draw is that "guten Morgen" is in the accusative case. Am I ...
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How come there are two accusative objects here "das geht dich einen Dreck an"? (so it seems)

I failed with the object analysis of the following sentence: Das Subjekt geht Verb dich Akk-Objekt(!?) einen Dreck Akk-Objekt(!?) an. I know there are instances, in which one finds, on top of ...
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Warum „am Bahnhof ankommen“ anstatt „an den Bahnhof“?

Ankommen ist ein Bewegungsverb. Dementsprechend sollte es allem Anschein nach den Akkusativ verlangen, denn an geht beides mit Akkusativ und Dativ. Wieso dann: am Bahnhof ankommen und nicht ...
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How to look up whether a verb uses dative or accusative

Generally, my understanding of the use of dative and accusative is a bit opaque. I am getting better at deciphering which prepositions call for which case. I have also seen that motion is another ...
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Case in expressions of measurement

If one wanted to say something like Er ist zwei Meter groß. He's two meters tall. (= 6' 6.7") Er ist einen halben Kopf größer als ich. He's half a head taller than me. Wouldn't the ...
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Nennen Sie mich

Ihr könnt mich einen Dummkopf nennen (das dann auf jeden Fall mit Akkusativ), aber wie heißt es? Nennen Sie mich Herrn Meier. Nennen Sie mich Herr Meier. Nennen Sie mich "Herr Meier". ...
Hagen von Eitzen's user avatar
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Why isn't accusative used in the sentence "Wann macht der Supermarkt auf?"

According to the dictionary, aufmachen is used with accusative: etw.Akk. aufmachen Then why is Wann macht der Supermarkt auf? Instead of Wann macht den Supermarkt auf? For example here, but ...
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„Sie traf ein großer Schock!“ Warum nicht „Sie traf einen großen Schock“?

Ich habe eine grammatische Frage wegen des Verbs treffen. Hier habe ich einen Satz: Als sie dann den Ort ihrer Hochzeitsfeier sahen, traf sie ein großer Schock! Treffen nimmt immer Akkusativ, daher ...
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The order of dative and accusative in a sentence

Ich kann dir das nicht verraten. I'm given to understand that if the subject in the accusative case is a pronoun, (as in the sentence above?) it precedes the dative case. Otherwise, the dative comes ...
Unrivalled confusion's user avatar
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Meaning and construction of "Ich bedanke mich"

I started studying German few months ago. I started reading "Der Nussknacker (Niveau Eins)". I found this Ich bedanke mich but I can not really understand what does it mean and its construction. ...
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Um welche Wortform handelt es sich bei „Pandoren“?

Edit 18.03.2018 Ein Zufallsfund lässt mich heute vermuten, dass die Endung en mit dem Kasus des Namens nichts zu tun hat. Im achten Auftritt von Lessings »Emilia Galotti« findet sich folgender Satz: ...
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"Keinen Scanner gefunden" vs. "Kein Scanner gefunden"

Wie im Titel beschrieben geht es um den Fall "Keinen Scanner gefunden" vs. "Kein Scanner gefunden". "Keinen" wäre (glaube ich) Akkusativ, "kein" Nominativ. Nach dem Akkusativ kann mit "Was" und "Wen" ...
Fabio Berger's user avatar
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Why does one need accusative after the impersonal construct "es gibt"?

I don't understand the reason why you need accusative instead of nominative after the impersonal construct es gibt (or gibt es in questions). According to the analysis of the parts of speech, what ...
martina.physics's user avatar
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"(Gehören) in" mit Akkusativ oder Dativ?

Welcher Satz ist richtig? Frage mit Wohin? (Akkusativ): Der Müll gehört in die Mülltonne. Wohin gehört der Müll? oder Frage mit Wo? (Dativ): Der Müll gehört in der Mülltonne. Wo gehört ...
Tiberiu C.'s user avatar
6 votes
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Nominative or Accusative case "Sie ist meine Mutter"

In the phrase: Sie ist meine Mutter. 'meine Mutter' is the nominative case although I don't understand why this is so since I naturally think that it should be the accusative case as it receives the ...
inquisitor's user avatar
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Nominativ or Akkusativ

I was reading a story book where I found this ... und natürlich viele Münchner, die wie er den Samstagnachmittag hier genießen. that translates in English to: ... and, of course, many people ...
Khadim Ali's user avatar
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„Es ist sehr aufwendig, doch es ist die/der Anstrengung wert“?

Sind diese beiden Formulierungen zulässig und sehe ich das wie folgt richtig? Im Satz Es ist sehr aufwendig, doch es ist die Anstrengung wert. bezieht sich der Artikel „die“ im Akkusativ auf das ...
Nemgathos's user avatar
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“bis spät in die Nacht” – why accusative and not in dative?

bis spät in die Nacht Since the whole expression is temporal and uses bis, I would expect it to be in dative, i.e.: bis spät in der Nacht However, the accusative form is of common use. Why?
Amanda K. Rico's user avatar
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Präposition "an": Dativ oder Akkusativ?

Es gibt eine Frage in meinem Buch. Lesen Sie. Nehmen Sie in einem Brief an die Zeitung Stellung. Soll es nicht Lesen Sie. Nehmen Sie in einem Brief an der Zeitung Stellung. sein ?
a_barsa's user avatar
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Correct usage: "für die Menschen" or "für den Menschen"? Accusative or dative (idiomatic exception)?

When reading Was für eine Krankheit ist Diabetes?, I came across a sentence: Traubenzucker ist lebenswichtig für den Menschen. [emphasis added] German grammar tutorials, for example: Prepositions ...
Barn Monkey's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
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What are cases used for?

Whenever I search “what are the use of cases”, the most common answer I find is that cases allow us to know the thematic role of a word in a sentence: the nominative case indicates who/what does the ...
Agustin G.'s user avatar
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Why is it “ich” and not “mich” in the sentence “Er war kleiner als ich”?

Every time I think I understand accusative, I find something that pokes holes in my understanding. Most recently, I’ve operated on the understanding that any time you have two distinct entities (e.g....
rob brown's user avatar
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Accusative or dative?

Which is correct? Er setzt sich auf einen Stuhl an dem Tisch. Er setzt sich auf einen Stuhl an den Tisch. In my book both are written; my guess is the first one because the table is not involved in ...
user's user avatar
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"ab" preposition with Akkusative?

"Ab" is considered Dative preposition, but in Duden it is said it sometimes can come with Akkusative: "Bei artikellosen Substantiven mit adj. Attribut gelegtl. auch mit Akk.", what does exactly this ...
orodeous's user avatar
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Application menu and the word "Name": Usage of accusative without article?

In an application on a drop down menu is an English button labeled "Copy username". Its intention is to copy a username into the PCs clipboard. Which way of translation would be correct for ...
knutella's user avatar
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6 votes
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General rule/s for finding out whether an object is accusative or dative

I wanted to know whether there are some general rules or hunches in the German mind that hints at whether an object has accusative or dative case. For example there are some rules to determine the ...
osolmaz's user avatar
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Warum ist der Akkusativ rein maskulin?

Gibt es eine gute Erklärung dafür, dass der Akkusativ ausschließlich im Maskulinum vom Nominativ unterschieden wird? In der Flexion der Adjektive, Artikel und Pronomen weisen Femininum, Neutrum und ...
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What is the logic behind `mit` taking the dative case, while `ohne` taking the accusative?

I try to understand why mit taking the dative case, while ohne taking the accusative - because it seems to me that they are both taking the same role in the sentence, with an opposite meaning (with/...
macro_controller's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
458 views

Accusative at the beginning of the sentence

In the German language, we could replace accusative to the beginning of the sentence, like so: Der Hund beißt den Mann. Den Mann beißt der Hund. So is this Der Hund beißt die Frau. Die Frau ...
Eftekhari's user avatar
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»bei« + Akkusativ statt Dativ (z.B. »Butter bei die Fische«)

Die Präposition bei regiert den Dativ und gilt nicht als Wechselpräposition. (Siehe z.B. Prepositions and Postpositions auf Wikibooks.) Allerdings gibt es auch heute noch die Redewendung »Butter bei ...
Tsundoku's user avatar
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Nominative or dative?

How does one describe one's self? When does one use nominative and when dative? Which one is correct? Ich bin glücklich. Mir ist glücklich. I am confused because there are times where I read ...
user20212's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
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Dativ or Akkusativ?

I was reading book and there was this sentence: Hanako ist die Schutzgottheit dieser Schule. I don’t understand why is there “dieser” and not “diese”? It seems that this is Akkusativ, because the ...
Andrew Rusanov's user avatar
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501 views

Correct cases in a composite complement involving more than a single preposition

Prepositions like an, auf, zwischen, vor and others can be used in a double sense: if you need to convey the idea of movement you need to use the accusative case along with them, while if the person/...
martina.physics's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
776 views

"Diesen Winter" together with the verb "sein"

I am very confused: Why is it: "Diesen Winter ist es sehr kalt." (My husband says, it's because of the "es" there, but I would love to know why). I totally understand: Dieser ...
LesleyH's user avatar
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Warum ist es "du kannst dir nicht vorstellen" und nicht "du kannst dich nicht vorstellen"?

Even though the reflexive verb is sich vorstellen? And how can one differentiate and use the cases properly for reflexive verbs?
darkr4id's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
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Why are accusative personal pronouns added into sentences that already have nominative personal pronouns?

I am having some trouble understanding why accusative personal pronouns are added into a sentence that already has a nominative personal pronoun, for example. Wie fühlst du dich? Könnt ihr euch ...
Zachary's user avatar
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3 answers
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Reason for use of accusative in this phrase?

I have the following phrase: Auf den ersten Blick bietet der Herbst alles andere als Wohlbehagen. The question is why the usage of accusative and not dative in the part "auf den ersten Blick&...
Dimitrios Menounos's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
604 views

Why is the accusative used in “Einen Augenblick!”?

When someone says “Einen Augenblick!”, like the English “Just a moment!”, why is the accusative used and not the nominative case?
Fishie's user avatar
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Difference between "accusative" and "direct object"

I always thought accusative case is used for the direct objects of a verb, until a few minutes ago when I found in German grammar in a nutshell, that Can you please explain the subtle difference ...
MAKZ's user avatar
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4 answers
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Adjective endings in accusative case and in comparison (neu/new)

This page suggests that neu/neuer is new/newer. This page suggests that "ein neuer Wagen" (a new car) is an identification of gender. Is it true that neuer can stand for both - and thus the only way ...
Denys S.'s user avatar
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