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Level: A1-A2

Nominativ vs Akkusativ

When to Use

Nominativ is the subject case (Wer? — who?). Akkusativ is the direct object case (Wen/Was? — whom/what?). Only masculine articles change: der → den, ein → einen. Feminine, neuter, and plural articles stay the same in both cases.

Comparison

	Nominativ	Akkusativ
Question	Wer? (who?)	Wen/Was? (whom/what?)
Function	Subject	Direct object
Masc. article	der / ein	den / einen
Fem./Neut./Pl.	die/das/die — ein/eine	die/das/die — ein/eine (no change)

Examples

Correct

Der Hund beißt den Mann.

Wrong

Den Hund beißt der Mann. (different meaning!)

Rule: Word order matters: der = subject, den = object

Correct

Ein Mann trinkt einen Kaffee.

Wrong

Ein Mann trinkt ein Kaffee.

Rule: Masculine nouns change: ein → einen in Akkusativ

Correct

Ich sehe den Lehrer.

Wrong

Ich sehe der Lehrer.

Rule: After transitive verbs, use Akkusativ: der → den

Tips

Only masculine changes! Feminine, neuter, and plural stay the same in Nominativ and Akkusativ.

The subject is the one doing the action. The direct object receives the action.

German word order is flexible — articles tell you who does what, not position.

Similar Comparisons

Akkusativ vs Dativ

A2-B1

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