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The case system
German has four cases: the nominative case (N) to indicate the subject, the accusative case (A) to indicate a direct object, the dative case (D) to indicate an indirect object, and the genitive case (G) to indicate possession or a close relationship. Example:
- Sie (N) schenkt der Mutter (D) ihres Freundes (G) einen Kalender (A). (She gives the mother of her friend a calendar.)
However, the accusative, dative, and genitive cases serve other purposes as well. For example, they go with specific prepositions and expressions.
See also:
Nominative
Accusative
Dative
Genitive
Pronouns, case inflections
Nominative case, nouns
Accusative case, nouns
Dative case, nouns
Genitive case, nouns
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