German cases: Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ, Genitiv
German’s four grammatical cases, shown through one consistent set of nouns (der Mann, die Frau, das Kind) so you see exactly which articles change — and which don’t — across all four.
- der Mann“der Mann” (the man) — Nominativ, masculine: the subject of the sentence
- die Frau“die Frau” (the woman) — Nominativ, feminine: the subject of the sentence
- das Kind“das Kind” (the child) — Nominativ, neuter: the subject of the sentence
- den Mann“den Mann” (the man) — Akkusativ, masculine: the direct object
- die Frau“die Frau” (the woman) — Akkusativ, feminine: the direct object
- das Kind“das Kind” (the child) — Akkusativ, neuter: the direct object
- dem Mann“dem Mann” (the man) — Dativ, masculine: the indirect object
- der Frau“der Frau” (the woman) — Dativ, feminine: the indirect object
- dem Kind“dem Kind” (the child) — Dativ, neuter: the indirect object
- des Mannes“des Mannes” (of the man) — Genitiv, masculine: shows possession
- der Frau“der Frau” (of the woman) — Genitiv, feminine: shows possession
- des Kindes“des Kindes” (of the child) — Genitiv, neuter: shows possession