The ultimate German gammar guide - what is Akkusativ and Dativ - part 2

Once you have identified the objects (all nouns and pronouns NOT controlling the verb) follow these steps:

A) is there a preposition (on, at, next to, under etc) before the object (i.e. before its article, adjective or personal pronoun)?

if yes, check:

a) is it a Dativ preposition? - the object must be in the Dativ (there is a fixed list of Dativ prepositions which you must memorise)

b) is it a Akkusativ preposition? - the object must be in the Akkusativ (there is a fixed list of Akkusativ prepositions which you must memorise)

c) is it a "two-way" preposition? (there is a fixed list of those as well). If so you must ask the following question vis-a-vis the sentence:

1. is a movement or transistion described? - if so: Akkusativ

2. is a fixed situation described? - if so: Dativ

Examples:

1. Peter (subject) geht durch den Park (object, because not controlling the verb)

[der Park (i.e. Park is male), durch = Akk preposition; therefore: "der" becomes "den"]

2. Peter stellt eine Tasse auf den Tisch.

["auf" is a 2-way preposition. Hence the above questions must be asked to see which one is correct.

Here the correct question vis-a-vis the table is: "where to is he putting the cup?" (not correct English, yes, but it'll do the trick). Answer "onto the table" = movement = Akkusative; "den" is the Akkusativ of "der".]

3. Die Tasse ist auf dem Tisch.

["auf" is a 2-way preposition.

Here the correct question vis-a-vis the table is "where is the cup?" Answer: "on the table" = fixed position (no movement) = Dativ; "dem" is the Dativ of "der"]

B) if there is no preposition before the object you must ask the following questions vis-a-vis the object:

1. who or what? = Akkusativ

2. to whom? = Dativ

Example:

Peter schenkt seiner Freundin einen Stift. - Peter gives (gifts) a pen to his girlfriend.

"Freundin" and "Stift" are objects because they are not controlling the verb. "Peter" is controlling the verb by "acting", i.e. by "gifting".

Neither object has a preposition in German. Note that in English the indirect object ("to his girlfriend") carries the preposition "to", but not in German!

Therefore we identify as follows:

1. Der Stift / ein Stift (male) is in the Akkusativ. Reason: it answers to the question "what is Peter giving?". Answer: "the pen". "einen" is the Akkusativ of "ein".

2. Die Freundin / seine Freundin (female) is in the Dativ, because it answers to the question "to whom is Peter giving the pen". "seiner" is the Dativ of "seine"

So how do we know which forms the articles, possessiv prounouns, adjectives and pronouns take in the Dativ and Akkusativ? - The bad news: you need to memorise them!

The good news: there are not as many to memorise as you think.

• The personal pronouns - yes 7x in Dativ, 7x in Akkusativ.

  • Dativ: ich - mir | du - dir | er - ihm | sie - ihr | wir - uns | ihr - euch | sie - ihnen

  • Akkusativ: ich - mich | du - dich | er - ihn | sie - sie | wir - uns | ihr - euch | sie - sie

• But to cover all declensions for all articles, possessive pronouns and adjectives, would you believe that there are only 14 to cover them all? Believe it. All others are logically deduced from those 14.

In my lessons you will get tables which shows this clearly.