what is it?
The accusative case marks the direct object of a sentence — the person or thing that the verb acts on directly. In the sentence Ich sehe den Bus, the bus is what is being seen, so it takes the accusative. German signals this case mainly through changes to the article; the noun itself does not change.
when to use it
After transitive verbs. Verbs like haben (to have), sehen (to see), kaufen (to buy), and brauchen (to need) all take a direct object in the accusative.
When the noun is the receiver of the action, not the doer. The subject (the doer) takes the nominative; the direct object (the receiver) takes the accusative. Ask yourself: who or what is being acted upon?
Regardless of word order. The direct object takes the accusative whether it appears before or after the verb. Position in the sentence does not determine case.
formation
Only the masculine singular article changes in the accusative. Feminine, neuter, and plural articles are identical to the nominative.
| gender | nominative | accusative |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | der / ein / kein | den / einen / keinen |
| feminine | die / eine / keine | die / eine / keine |
| neuter | das / ein / kein | das / ein / kein |
| plural | die / — / keine | die / — / keine |
The pattern is simple: masculine der → den and ein → einen. Everything else stays the same.
examples in context
common pitfalls
Leaving a masculine article in the nominative. Writing «Ich habe ein Hund» is incorrect. Hund is masculine and the direct object, so the article must be einen: «Ich habe einen Hund».
Applying -en to feminine or neuter nouns. «Sie hat einen Katze» is wrong. Katze is feminine; the accusative article is still eine: «Sie hat eine Katze». The accusative change only ever affects masculine singular articles.
Confusing word order with case. A noun that appears at the front of the sentence is not automatically the subject. In «Den Bus sehe ich», den Bus is still the direct object and keeps the accusative article den. Always identify the grammatical role, not the position.