German has four cases β Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ and Genitiv. The case tells you the job a noun does in the sentence, and it shows up on the article (der/die/das and ein-words) and sometimes on the noun itself. Master this and the whole grammar falls into place.
Work through each screen and answer the questions β some ask you to spot the case, some to produce the right article. Collect β and press Start.
This grammar backbone powers every IB German B (HL) theme: Identities, Experiences, Human ingenuity, Social organization and Sharing the planet β and the accuracy you need to discuss your two literary works in the HL written assignment and individual oral.
The case marks a noun's role. English shows this with word order; German shows it with the case ending, which frees the word order up:
The tell: ask wer/was? for the subject (Nominativ), wen/was? for the direct object (Akkusativ), wem? for the indirect object (Dativ), and wessen? for possession (Genitiv).
This is the single most useful table in German. Learn it cold β the red forms are the ones that change:
| case | maskulin | feminin | neutrum | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | der | die | das | die |
| Akkusativ | den | die | das | die |
| Dativ | dem | der | dem | den |
| Genitiv | des | der | des | der |
Shortcut: only the masculine column changes in the accusative (der β den). Everything else is identical to the nominative there.
The dative marks the indirect object β the person to or for whom something happens: Ich gebe dem Kind das Buch. ("I give the book to the child.")
A group of verbs takes a dative object even where English feels like a direct object. Learn them as a set:
Watch out: Das Buch gehΓΆrt dem Mann. β "gehΓΆren" needs the dative (dem), never the accusative.
Tap a preposition on the left, then the phrase that shows the case it governs.
Every preposition forces a fixed case on the noun after it. You will drill these fully in cluster 6, but meet the families now:
Learn the group, not the guess: once you know mit is dative, mit dem/der/dem follows automatically.
The ein-words β ein/eine, kein ("no/not a") and the possessives mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer β take the same endings. They have no ending in three slots (masc. nom., neut. nom./acc.):
| case | maskulin | feminin | neutrum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | ein | eine | ein |
| Akkusativ | einen | eine | ein |
| Dativ | einem | einer | einem |
| Genitiv | eines | einer | eines |
Same skeleton: mein Bruder β meinen Bruder (acc.) β meinem Bruder (dat.). The endings mirror der/die/das minus the leading d.
The genitive answers wessen? (whose?). In modern German it follows the noun it depends on:
Noun endings: masculine and neuter nouns add -s or -es in the genitive (des Autos, des Kindes). Feminine and plural nouns add nothing (der Frau, der Kinder).
Sort each clause by the case of its object.
The four cases: Nominativ (subject), Akkusativ (direct object), Dativ (indirect object), Genitiv (possession).
Definite article: der/die/das/die β only masculine changes in the accusative (den); dative dem/der/dem/den; genitive des/der/des/der.
ein-words: ein/kein/mein⦠take the same endings, with no ending in masc. nom. and neut. nom./acc.
Dative verbs: helfen, danken, folgen, gefallen, gehΓΆren, antworten. Genitive nouns (m./n.) add -s/-es.
Cluster 2 puts these cases to work in the sentence: verb-second, TeKaMoLo, and how subordinating conjunctions kick the verb to the end. Press Finish.
You've consolidated the four cases and the article system for IB Diploma German B HL. π
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Next in the backbone: word order β verb-second, TeKaMoLo and the verb-final rule.