German Cases
In English, the words "he" and "I" can be used as subjects (the ones
doing the action in a sentence), and they change to "him" and "me" when
they are objects (the ones the action is applied to). Here's an example:
| Subject |
Verb |
Object |
| I |
see |
him |
| He |
sees |
me |
This is called a grammatical case: the same word changes its form, depending on its relationship to the verb. In English, only pronouns have cases. In German, most words other than verbs (such as nouns, pronouns, determiners, adjectives, etc.) have cases.
You'll learn more about cases later; for now you just need to understand the difference between the two simplest cases: nominative and accusative.
The subject of a sentence (the one doing the action) is in the nominative case. So when we say Die Frau spielt. (The woman plays.), "die Frau" is in the nominative.
The accusative object is the thing or person that is directly receiving the action. For example, in Der Mann sieht den Ball. (The man sees the ball.), der Mann is the (nominative) subject and den Ball is the (accusative) object.
For the articles, nominative and accusative are nearly the same. Only the masculine ("der") forms change:
| "a(n)" |
masc. |
neut. |
fem. |
| Nominative |
ein |
ein |
eine |
| Accusative |
einen |
ein |
eine |
| "the" |
m. |
n. |
f. |
pl. |
| Nom. |
der |
das |
die |
die |
| Acc. |
den |
das |
die |
die |
Flexible sentence order
The fact that most words in German are affected by the case explains why the sentence order is more flexible than in English. For example, you can say Das Mädchen hat den Apfel. (The girl has the apple.) or Den Apfel hat das Mädchen.. In both cases, den Apfel (the apple) is the accusative object, and das Mädchen is the subject (always nominative).
However, take note that in German, the verb always has to be in position 2. If something other than the subject takes up position 1, the subject will then move after the verb.
- Normally, I drink water.
- Normalerweise trinke ich Wasser.
Vowel change in some verbs
A few common verbs change the vowel in the second and third person singular.
Here is the table for a verb without vowel change:
| En. person |
person |
trinken |
| I |
ich |
trinke |
| you (sg.) |
du |
trinkst |
| he/she/it |
er/sie/es |
trinkt |
| we |
wir |
trinken |
| you (pl.) |
ihr |
trinkt |
| they |
sie |
trinken |
And here are three verbs with that vowel change. Notice that in the
first two verbs, the 2nd and 3rd person singular seem the same. This is
just because the du ending -st merged with the -s- of the verb stem. This is unrelated to the vowel change.
| person |
lesen |
sprechen |
| ich |
lese |
spreche |
| du |
liest |
sprichst |
| er/sie/es |
liest |
spricht |
| wir |
lesen |
sprechen |
| ihr |
lest |
sprecht |
| sie |
lesen |
sprechen |
Similarly, essen turns to du isst/er isst.
Sprechen (to speak) will be introduced in one of the next lessons.
Isst vs. ist
Isst and ist sound exactly the same. So do Es ist ein Apfel. and Es isst ein Apfel. sound the same?
Yes, but you can tell it's Es ist ein Apfel: Es isst ein Apfel is ungrammatical. The accusative of ein Apfel is einen Apfel. Hence, It is eating an apple translates as Es isst einen Apfel.
Of course, this only works for masculine nouns. Other forms will look the same in nominative and accusative:
- Er isst eine Banane.
- Er ist eine Banane.
Only context will tell you here :)
Ich habe Brot
In English, you can say "I'm having bread" when you really mean that you're eating or about to eat bread. This does not work in German. The verb haben refers to possession only. Hence, the sentence Ich habe Brot only translates to I have bread, not I'm having bread. Of course, the same applies to drinks. Ich habe Wasser only translates to I have water, not I'm having water.
Conjugation is also slightly irregular: two forms lose the -b-.
| English person |
German example |
| I |
ich habe |
| you (sg.) |
du hast |
| he/she/it |
er/sie/es hat |
| we |
wir haben |
| you (pl.) |
ihr habt |
| they | sie haben |
LEKTION 14
f/1.
1. You drink milk. Du trinkst Milch. - 2. Ihr trinkt Wasser. You drink water. You are drinking water. - 3. Die Kinder lesen ein Buch. The children read a book. - 4. Ich esse einen Apfel und sie isst Bot. I am eating an apple and she is eating bread. - 5. Hast du ein Buch? Do you have a book? - 6. Ich lese ein Buch, sie liest eine Zeitung. I am reading a book, she is reading a newspaper. - 7. Die Männer und die Frauen lesen. The men and the women read. - 8. Liest er? Does he read? Is he reading? - 9. Ich trinke und ich esse. I drink and I eat. - 10. Ihr trinkt. You drink. You are drinking. - 11. Ich esse, du trinkst. I am eating, you are drinking. - 12. We are reading books. Wir lesen Bücher. - 13. Trinkst du? Are you drinking? - 14. A man is reading. Ein Mann liest. - 15. The girl is reading a newspaper. Das Mädchen liest eine Zeitung. - 16. I am reading. Ich lese. - 17. We are reading a book. Wir lesen ein Buch. - 18. They read a newspaper. Sie lesen eine Zeitung. - 19. I am reading the newspaper. Ich lese die Zeitung. - 20. You are reading a newspaper. Du liest eine Zeitung. - 21. Ich trinke und ich esse. I drink and I eat. - 22. Ich esse, du trinkst. I am eating, you are drinking. -