Lesson 16: The Cases in German: Akkusativ
16.1 How the Akkusativ is (Not) Different from the Nominativ
We'll begin with the same sentence we used in the previous lesson with one addition: we're going to add an indefinite article.| Gisela trinkt einen Kaffee. |
You already know that Gisela is the subject of the sentence. She performs the action of the sentence, which here is to drink. But wait … isn't it der Kaffee? Shouldn't it be ein Kaffee?
This is where the Akkusativ makes a change in the sentence. But only one.
This is what sets the Nominativ and the Akkusativ apart:
- Gisela is the subject of the sentence; this is Nominativ.
- She drinks the coffee, thus she does the action trinkt.
- The coffee receives the action, because it is drunk, and thus it is called the direct object of the sentence. It is the object which is directly acted upon.
- It can no longer be ein Kaffee, because it is a der word and it is being acted upon, thus it must be put in the Akkusativ and it becomes einen Kaffee.