Accusative in German: when der becomes den
In the accusative only one article changes: der becomes den. Die, das and the plural die stay as they are.
The table
| Case | masc. | fem. | neut. | pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (wer?) | der | die | das | die |
| Accusative (wen?) | den | die | das | die |
Who does what?
The nominative is the one doing something (wer?). The accusative is the one it's done to (wen?).
Der Hund jagt den Fuchs.The dog chases the fox. Den Fuchs jagt der Hund.Still: the dog chases the fox.German can swap the order, because the article says who is who. That's why der and den matter: they are the only pair that shows it.
die and das don't change
Der Hund sieht die Katze.The dog sees the cat. Die Katze sieht das Pferd.The cat sees the horse.The most common slip is den Katze
. die Katze is feminine, so it stays die, whoever chases whom.
ein becomes einen
The same goes for ein: only the masculine changes. Ich habe einen Hund und eine Katze.I have a dog and a cat.
Prepositions that always take it
durch, für, gegen, ohne, um: ein Geschenk für den Vatera present for the father
Remember it with a picture
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