That distinction helps. But it’s not the full picture. Because if you’re aiming for anything beyond a very limited goal, it’s going to take years, not months. And life gets in the way. Work. Family. Energy levels. Unexpected events (good or bad).

Even if you hit a series of path goals, there will be stretches—sometimes long ones—where you’re simply not up for the next push.

Given that reality, I’ve found another idea helpful: the infinite game.

The term comes from James P. Carse, in his book Finite and Infinite Games. Simon Sinek ran with it in his more recent volume, The Infinite Game. A finite game is played to win. It has a clear endpoint. Think of a football match, a chess game, an election or an exam. There are defined players, fixed rules, and—eventually—a result. Most of our path goals in language learning look like this. You prepare for an exam You finish a course. You aim to read a book by Easter. Clear objective. Clear end.

An infinite game is different. There’s no final win and no ultimate endpoint. You’re not playing to finish. You’re playing to stay in the game.

That’s it.

I feel this most strongly in my advanced languages. After more than thirty years with Welsh, German, French, and Russian, I’m not really chasing a “vision goal” anymore. I stay engaged. I improve when I can. And I keep enjoying my connection with the culture, people, and places tied to those languages. They’ve simply become part of my life. In contrast, with Basque, I’m still very much in the middle of the climb. And with Japanese, that intermediate plateau is only just coming into view.

But here’s the point!

Even at beginner or intermediate level, this shift in perspective can help. Of course, vision and path goals can still be very useful indeed. But, if you treat language learning only as a series of finite games. Yyou’ll constantly feel behind, off track, or not quite “there”.

If you also see it as an infinite game, you can help yourself to continue: to dip in and out; to have quieter periods without assuming you’ve failed; and, to keep going, long enough for your language to become part of your life.

So here’s a simple question for you:

What is one small way you can stay “in the game” this week?

I’m not talking about a big push here. Just something you’ll actually do.

Related posts

Six tips for keeping going with your language learning

Enhancing the rhythm of your language learning year

Language learning anchors and getting back on track

How to keep learning a language when life’s turned upside down

The post Language learning as an infinite game appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

Language learning and the rhythm of the year

If you’re a regular around here, you’ll know that I like to tie my language learning to the rhythm of the year.

Come mid-winter, Christmas and New Year celebrations are, of course, a big part of that annual cycle. 

I’m a introvert’s introvert, but I also make sure to cultivate connections with others through my new language(s), over the long term.

These two impulses came together a couple of weeks ago, when I attended London Basque Society’s Christmas meal, held in a community hall. It’s something I look forward to each year.

The food and company were as good as ever and I got to deploy my Basque.

Here I am at the event, showing off the Christmas tree.

Seasonal listening practice: Christmas YouTube videos in six languages

Talking of Christmas trees, and inspired by the season, I thought today I’d share links to some of the best Christmas YouTube videos I found; in six “major” languages and all on the subject of decorating the aforementioned vegetation.  

The list’s at the bottom of this post.

I don’t know any of these channels well, so I can’t vouch for their wider content. 

What I can say, having watched the videos, is that each one will give you something seasonal (if you’re learning one of these languages, of course). Each is potentially a great resource to spice up your language learning at Christmas.

How to use native-level videos at any level

If You’re Upper-Intermediate (B2) or Above

If you’re an upper-intermediate (B2) learner or above, this sort of native-level content should be a solid part of your listening diet.

You can simply enjoy the YouTube videos. Lean back, and let the flow of natural language wash over you. You’ll pick up vocabulary, phrasing, and intonation from context.

If You’re a Beginner or Lower Intermediate

If you’re a beginner or lower intermediate student, there’s still a lot you can do with material that’s “too difficult”, such as these videos (or any others you can find):

• watch once and try to catch individual words and phrases;
• after you’ve seen what’s in the vid, hit your dictionary and dig out some vocabulary to describe what you’ve seen;
• watch again and see if you pick out more words and phrases this time, including new ones you’ve looked up;
• write a simple, one- or two-hundred-word description of the content (and use it as the basis of a conversation, if you work with a language exchange partner or teacher).

No time for language study? Here’s the minimum you can do

But what if – like me – you don’t have time for any of that as Christmas approaches? That’s when a bit of minimalist, passive festive listening practice can keep things ticking over.

Pour yourself a glass of mulled wine and kick back for a few minutes in your fave armchair.

Hit “play”, let the Christmas spirit of your chosen vid wash over you …

… and strengthen your self-image as a future fluent speaker!  

Season’s Greetings!  

Christmas YouTube videos for language learners – a selection

Here’s what I’ve found so far — and if you have other recommendations, share them in the comments!

German

1) Channel: Mamiseelen

Großes Geschenk für Elisas Klasse! Tannenbaum schlagen 2025

2) Channel: Flowers by Shouten 

Weihnachtsdeko Trends 2025 – Ladenrundgang durch die Adventsausstellung

Spanish

1) Channel: Zahira Cury

Decora Tu Arbol de Navidad Paso a Paso

2) Channel: Jos Ideas Decoración y Más

Cómo decorar el árbol de Navidad

French

1) Channel: Amandine Poggioli

Je monte le sapin de Noël

2) Channel: Tibo InShape

On fait notre sapin de Noël en couple!

Portuguese

1) Channel: Nathalia Coelho (Brazil)

Decorando a cozinha – Natal 2025

2) Channel: Nanda Froment (Portugal)

Árvore de Natal da roça 

Italian

1) Channel: Carolina Chiari 

Facciamo il nostro primo albero di Natale

2) Channel: Chiaretta Alfredo

Vlogmas 1: Facciamo l’albero di Natale

Russian

(In Russia the tree is thought of more as the “New Year Tree”, but it’ll still be up for the Orthodox Christmas on January 6)

1) Channel: Екатерина Гурьянова (Ekaterina Gur’ianova)

Зимний влог – Decorating the kitchen

2) Ирина Яава (Irina Yava) 

Украшаю дом (2006)

If you have favourite Christmas YouTube videos in the language you’re learning, share them in the comments — I’d love to see them.

Related posts:

Five fun Christmas foreign language practice ideas

How to keep learning a language when life’s turned upside down

German Christmas words you need for Christmas traditions you’ll love

The post Christmas YouTube videos to stay engaged with your language appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

It was the highlight of a month-long trip through Southeast Asia—a trip that began with a two-week work stint in Singapore and Hong Kong (I’m a lawyer by day), followed by time off in Vietnam and Cambodia.

But Angkor Wat wasn’t just a visual spectacle.

It gave me a fresh perspective on language learning—one I’ve been thinking about ever since.

Build first. Embellish later.

Angkor Wat is one of the most magnificent religious monuments in the world, built in the twelfth century by the Khmer Empire.

What makes it all the more fascinating is how it was constructed:

• The builders raised the massive sandstone blocks first.
• Only afterwards did they carve the intricate details—right there on the finished structure.

Contrast that with medieval Europe, where masons painstakingly carved stones on the ground before lifting them into place. That approach slowed progress dramatically.

In fact, while Angkor Wat was finished in under 40 years, many European cathedrals took centuries to complete.

What does this have to do with language learning?

As language learners, we often approach things the “cathedral way”.

You know? We find ourselves trying to “perfect” every sentence before we dare speak or write. We want to fully grasp every grammar rule before taking even small steps.

But what if we did it the Angkor Way?

Get the basic structure in place first—core patterns, simple vocabulary— up, rough and ready.

And only later start refining.

The foundation: Fluency Phrases and key vocabulary

So what does laying that structure look like?

It means focusing early on ready-to-use, high-frequency sentence patterns—what I call Fluency Phrases.

These are language chunks that combine vocabulary and grammar in ways that are immediately useful. Think:

• “I’d like to…”
• “Can you…?”
• “I’ve never…”

They’re the reusable building blocks of communication. Pre-packed language.

Add key vocabulary

Start with two types of words:

• Common words: the most frequent 600–1000, based on frequency lists (these are available online for many languages).
• Personal key words and phrases: these are specifics that relate to your life—your job, interests, family, goals.

It’s best if you can gather these words in the context of a fuller phrase or sentence (“Fluency Phrases” again!).

When it comes to grammar, some of your most useful phrases may actually contain quite complex grammar that you might not understand fully until much later. And that’s completely fine.

A well-designed language course (or self-study plan) will combine usable phrases and generally relevant vocabulary with clear, jargon-free, and level-appropriate explanations of how the language works as a system. This is the why behind the what. It’s a level of understanding that native speakers often don’t have, but which can really help you progress faster (and make the process more interesting) as an adult learner.

But don’t just rely on a course. Start collecting your own words and phrases, especially for those bespoke things you’ll want to talk about that are specific to your situation.

How to make phrases stick

It’s one thing to jot down a phrase and understand what it means.

It’s quite another to remember it and use it spontaneously when you need it.

The solution? Spaced recall!

That means combining two powerful ideas:

• Spaced repetition – Reviewing phrases at increasing intervals.
• Active recall – Trying to remember and produce them without looking.

Put them together and you’ve got one of the most effective memory strategies around.

A 4-step routine for phrase-based learning

Here’s a way we can put this into practice.

First, collect! Choose 5–10 short, practical phrases you’d genuinely use.

Second, repeat
Say them aloud a couple of times a day. Even whispering them works. You can increase the level of challenge (and hence of likely retention) by having the phrase in your target language on one side of a flash card (paper or electronic) and the equivalent in your new language on the other.

Third, write
Jot them down by hand. Writing engages different mental pathways.

Fourth recall at intervals. Over time, increase the intervals at which you return to your latest batch of new phrases. Frequent recall attempts at the beginning (one day later, three days later, a week, two weeks, a month…). Electronic apps such as Anki will build in the spacing for you.

All the time, try to spot and use. Look out for your phrases in podcasts, subtitles, YouTube, and conversations. If you have speaking sessions with a tutor or exchange partner, try to weave them in to the conversation.

The spaced, effortful interaction with what you’re learning builds mental connections—and increases the chance you’ll be able to recall the phrase next time it matters.

And, since you’re learning phrases, you’ll know that you’ve got it right (unlike when you’re trying to string individual words together, applying the grammar on the hoof).

Adding precision and nuance: carving the intricacies of your language

Once your stone blocks are up and you’re recognising and using phrases, it’s time to refine.

This doesn’t mean chasing perfection.

It means becoming more aware of common mistakes—and gently correcting them over time.

Depending on your language, focus areas might include:

• Getting articles and noun gender right
• Improving word order or sentence structure
• Firming up tricky verb conjugations
• Noticing how tenses are used in context

For intermediate learners, it might be revisiting “easy” material from the early stages and noticing new layers of detail.

Three practical ways to refine

Get feedback! From a tutor, language partner, or coach. Ask for feedback on your most common errors—just one or two at a time.

Compare your output (speaking, writing). Record yourself and compare with native audio. Or try writing and then contrasting your version with a model answer.

Reflect afterwards. After a lesson or writing session, jot down what tripped you up. Look it up, practice it, move forward.

Each small correction adds polish to your foundation. It also stops early errors becoming too engrained, harder to shift later.

A key mindset shift: your temple will never be “finished”

Angkor Wat looked pretty impressive to me. But when I read up afterwards, I learned this:

• Some stones don’t match.
• Some carvings are incomplete.
• The design isn’t perfectly symmetrical.

And yet… it’s one of the greatest architectural achievements in human history.

Your language learning will be the same.

Never complete.

There’ll always be more to polish, more vocabulary to learn, more idioms to discover. And that’s okay.

Because the goal isn’t flawlessness.

The goal is communication, connection, curiosity.

The true foundation of fluency in a foreign language

It’s not perfect grammar.

It’s not a giant vocabulary.

It’s confidence.

Confidence to keep going—even when the task feels huge.

Confidence to speak up—even when you know you’ll make mistakes.

Confidence to enjoy the process, even if progress feels slow.

Because here’s the real secret:

You don’t become fluent by waiting until you’re “ready.”

You get ready by hoisting the blocks that you already do have up into place; by using what you do have. Even if it’s rough and ready.

Your turn!

If you’re just getting started, how about taking a month to get together thirty core phrases. Add one a day. Say them, write them, use them.

If you’re intermediate, revisit old material and spot the gaps. Build around your own interests and real-life needs.

And if you’ve taken a break—start again. The stones are still there. The scaffolding is waiting.

Keep at it and structure will rise as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow over Angkor Wat.

Want to get better at learning languages as an adult? You can get my free Language Learner Pro method course (one short vid a day for a week) and join my free Howtogetfluent Email Club using the box below.

Related posts

Sound more fluent: nine tips

When they won’t stop speaking English. How to keep the conversation “foreign”

The post What Angkor Wat can teach you about learning a language appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

Why Is It Called “Good” Friday?

As a kid, I remember being rather nonplussed as to why exactly Good Friday — arguably the saddest day in the Christian calendar — got its incongruous, upbeat name.

As it turns out, the “good” in Good Friday likely comes from an older meaning of the word “good” — something closer to “holy,” “pious,” or “sacred.”

Knowing that has enriched my understanding and, in a way, my experience of the day itself.

It helped me to take the underlying concept on board in a deeper way.

A Language Learning Takeaway

There’s a language learning nugget in that.

As you’ll know if you’ve been reading my emails or blog for a while, I’m a great advocate of learning vocabulary in the context of phrases, common word combinations (collocations), ready-made chunks.

But every now and then, it’s worth zooming in on a single word. Exploring its backstory. Its roots.

That little dig is another way of making a word “sticky.”

What Other Languages Call Good Friday

The word for Good Friday in different European languages reveals something about how each culture understands the meaning of the day.

Turns out that most European languages seem to go with one of three ideas:

1. “Holy Friday” (Romance Languages & Basque)

French: Vendredi Saint (masc.)
Italian: Venerdì Santo (masc.)
Spanish: Viernes Santo (masc.)
Portuguese: Sexta-feira Santa (fem.)

One of my intermediate languages is Basque. The Basque Country straddles the Pyrenees in southwest France and northern Spain.

So, it came as no surprise to me to discover that the Basque Good Friday, Ostiral Santua, also means “Holy Friday.”

2. “Long Friday” (Scandinavian & Finnish Languages)

In Scandinavian languages (and Finnish) Good Friday is known as “Long Friday” — a reference to the extended suffering of Christ and the solemnity of the day.

Swedish: Långfredagen (common gender)
Norwegian: Langfredag (masc.)
Danish: Langfredag (common gender)
Icelandic: Föstudagurinn langi (masc.)
Finnish: Pitkäperjantai (no grammatical gender system)

3. “Great Friday” (Central & Eastern European Languages)

A group of languages spoken in a band across Central Europe use “Great Friday”:

Polish: Wielki Piątek (masc.)
Belarusian: Вялікая Пятніца / Vyalikaya Pyatnitsa (fem.)
Hungarian: Nagypéntek
Czech: Velký pátek (masc.)
Slovak: Veľký piatok (masc.)
Romanian: Vinerea Mare (fem.)
Greek: Μεγάλη Παρασκευή / Megáli Paraskeví (fem.)

Bulgarian and Serbian / Croatian also fall into this group. So do Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian.

Other Unique Variations

Beyond these three common “Good Friday” concepts, other languages give the name of the day a more idiosyncratic spin:

In Dutch, the story with Goede Vrijdag (common gender) seems similar to English. The meaning of goede has evolved from “holy” to “good.”

In Russian Good Friday Страстная Пятница / Strastnaya Pyatnitsa (fem.), meaning ‘Suffering’ or ‘Passion’ Friday (from strast = passion/suffering).

The Ukrainian term for Good Friday is also “Passion Friday”: Страсна П’ятниця / Strasna Pyatnytsya (fem.).

Two of my more advanced languages take their own path:

In Welsh, we have Dydd Gwener y Groglith (masc.). That’s to say “the Friday of the lesson of the Cross” (Dydd Gwener = Friday; llith = lesson / Bible reading in church; crog = an old word for ‘cross’).

And the German for Good Friday is Karfreitag (masc.). That comes from Old High German kara meaning “lament” or “grief.”

One Word, Many Windows

Looking at vocab in this way can open up a whole web of meaning — cultural, historical, even emotional.

So while we’re usually all about learning in the context of phrases, the occasional deep dive can bring up pearls.

It can enrich your understanding and make a word far more memorable.

Over to You

What does your target language call Good Friday?
Have you come across a variation not mentioned here?

Drop it in the comments below

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The post Good Friday in 20+ European languages — and a tip for smarter vocab learning appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

In the first half of this post we’ll unpack the benefits of talking to yourself in more detail. Then, in the second half, you’ll find some practical tips on how to go about it as you learn that language.

Why is self-talk a good idea in language learning?

There are at least four headline reasons why talking (out loud) to yourself in your target language makes a lot of sense:

Self-talk removes performance pressure (builds confidence)

You may get anxious in real situations where people can get impatient, for example during transactions in a store or on a phone call in your foreign language. In short, you’re under “performance pressure”.

If you’re practising such scenarios on your own, though, you are freed up to experiment and take risks. This is your chance to push the boundaries of your powers of expression in your new language while not being “under the spotlight”, as it were.

Nobody’s listening, so you can also exaggerate your accent / intonation in a way that may initially feel too flamboyant for real life, but which might actually get you closer to where you need to be.

Self-talk puts the focus purely on your own speaking (builds accuracy)

Live conversation is a two-way experience. That’s the whole point! If you’re talking to yourself, in contrast, you don’t have to give some of your attention over to anticipating how the other person is going to respond and interpreting what they do say (and their wider body language).

When you practise speaking on your own, you can’t get away with mumbling or half-expressing something and leaving your interlocutor to fill in the gaps.

You can’t resort to gesticulation as a get out for lack of language.

You have to fill the silences and, as you do so, you will hear yourself more (including any errors).

Self-talk enables you to get extra practice without depending on others (it’s convenient)

Self-talk is an always-available way to reinforce your understanding of vocab and grammar that you’ve already learned and tp practice recalling it (essential to lodging it in your memory).

You can broach awkward topics that you may not be comfortable discussing with others or subjects that are simply too niche for your average language tutor or exchange partner (such as work technicalities or unusual hobbies).

Self-talk helps you “flag and fill” gaps in your knowledge

When you come up against something you can’t say due to missing vocabulary or grammar, you can jot it down in English, keep talking and then check later. It wouldn’t be so practical to take even quick notes like this in real life. I bet you’d be less likely to follow up, as well.

How to talk to yourself when learning a language (pro tips)

So, then, how do we do self-talk right?

Here are my pro tips:

Keep it short

The exercise will be quite intense, so keep it short. Start with talk to yourself sessions of just three to five minutes. You can always build up to longer as you gain in experience.

Actually speak out loud!

It’s a real thrill when you catch yourself thinking in a new language but, for the self-talk technique, it’s important to speak out loud.

Why?

First, in order to train your mouth as well as your mind.

Second, to keep you on task. If you were to depend on your thoughts alone, you could easily wonder off topic (and back into your native language).

Third, hearing yourself helps normalise the idea of speaking in your new language and will help you to notice mistakes.

Monologue or dialogue?

A simulated two-way self-talk “conversation” is closest to most “real life” scenarios, but you’ll see that some of the topic ideas below lend themselves to a monologue as well.

Begin with whichever appeals most and try the other every now and again.

Don’t be shy about playing roles. Instead, get in touch with your inner drama queen and ham it up a bit!

What should I talk about?

Here are some initial topic ideas, but the possibilities really are endless:

• narrate your day so far
• describe what you can see in your immediate surroundings
• role-play a scenario from your recent life (or from the life of somebody you know or a celebrity or historical figure)
• give somebody directions (how to find the way somewhere, how to do something)
• have an imaginary argument
• re-enact a well-known scene from your favourite novel or film
• talk on a topic that you think you’ll need
• find a short YouTube video or podcast in your language (or in English). Watch or listen and try to retell what you’ve heard. Or turn off the sound and narrate what you see, pressing pause when you need to
• imagine a future or conditional scenario (to practise those future or conditional forms of expression)

What if there’s something I can’t say?

Have a notepad and pen to hand. Jot down the roadblock very briefly. Try to talk round the gap, using what language you do have. If you’ve forgotten the word for “dog” you could maybe say “animal friend” or “my animal” or “like a cat but not a cat”.

How to supercharge your self-talk

We said that one of the benefits of talking to yourself was that it removes any worry about how you’re coming across to an interlocutor. It lets you focus exclusively on your own speaking.

But if self-talk is going to feel realistic, you do need some pressure.

So, record yourself as you speak.

This will force you to keep up the pace and to articulate clearly.

You can then listen back and evaluate yourself or play the recording to your teacher, exchange partner or other helpful advanced speaker. Ask for constructive feedback.

Keep (and date) some at least of your recordings. They’ll be great evidence of how far you’ve come six months and six years down the line.

So that’s a quick round up of the reasons why talking to yourself is a useful addition to your range of language learning techniques and there as some top tips for how to do it.

Nobody is saying, of course, that self-talk can take the place of speaking with other people.

But many of us have found that it’s an effective and efficient way to build up our confidence and accuracy, learn more, get in some extra practice and then go on and have better conversations. What about you?

What about you? Are you already an accomplished self-talker, one who’s had the last laugh with family members who initially thought you had a screw loose?

If the self-talk technique is new to you, how about giving it a go?

If you’re already an old hand, do you do it along the lines I’ve described here or have you given it a slightly different twist?

Follow up questions, comments or suggestions are, as always, very welcome, so share your thoughts in the comments below.

Related posts

How soon should you speak your foreign language?

Sound more fluent: nine tricks

The post Talking to yourself to learn a language? appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

Let’s get started! Los geht’s!

What is the German accusative case?

The nominative case, der Akkusativ in German, is one of German’s four grammatical cases (Fälle). The others are the nominative, dative and genitive. 

Case is simply a word for a category into which we put a noun (person or thing) depending on its role in the sentence in relation to other nouns (or pronouns) and the verb (state or action word). Who does what to whom with whose… and so on.  

German mostly signals case by a change in the form not of the noun itself, but of three other types of word: pronouns, determiners and adjectives.

Pronouns are small words like “he”, “it”, “they” which can stand in for naming a person. English too has case-specific forms for pronouns.

Determiners are small class of function words that make clear which one of a noun we mean, for example this apple, the apple, an apple, my apple, all apples. 

Adjectives are words that describe what somebody or something is like – also take case endings add specific information about it, for example big apples, the red apple, those tasty apples. German, unlike English, adds case endings to determiners and adjectives.

In the usage part of this post, we’ll explain when a noun (or pronoun) goes in the accusative case. 

First, let’s look German accusative case forms. We’ll start with German pronouns in the accusative and then looking at the accusative case endings of determiners (often divided by teachers into so-called der words and ein words) and adjectival endings in the accusative.  

German accusative case forms

The questions Wen? or Was? in the accusative case

The accusative is often called the Wen-Fall, as it’s often possible to identify what goes into the accusative by asking the W-Frage (W-question) Wen? or Was? Who(m)? or What? is the recipient or object of the action of the verb. The nominative is the Wer-Fall (Wer? Who? does the action). the dative is the Wem-Fall (Wem? To whom is the action directed or the object given). The genitive is the Wessen-Fall (Wessen? Whose is something?).

Here are some examples of Wen-Fragen (and answers) with the accusative case endings underlined:

Wen trifft sie später? Whom is she meeting later? Sie trifft ihren Bruder später. She is meeting her brother later.

Was hat sie gegessen? What has she eaten? Sie hat den grünen Apfel gegessen. She has eaten the green apple.

Was hast du gehört? What did you hear? Ich habe das schöne Lied gehört. I heard the song.

Wen besucht ihr am Wochenende? Whom are you visiting on the weekend? Wir besuchen unsere lieben Großeltern am Wochenende. We are visiting our dear grandparents at the weekend.

Was hat er gekauft? What has he bought? Er hat interessante neue Bücher gekauft. He has bought (some) interesting new books.

In the accusative, we can also ask after an object with Was für eins? in the sense of What kind of an…? .

Was für einen Wagen fährt er? What kind of car does he drive?

We’ll explain the underlined case endings later in the post, in the sections on articles and determiners and on adjectival endings.

German pronouns in the accusative case (compared with the nominative, dative)

Overview table of German pronouns

Nouns in German don’t have special endings for the accusative case but pronouns (words that stand in for a noun) do.  There are seven pronoun words in German and most of them vary according to case. English too has retained a set of case-specific pronouns (even though most other case forms vanished from English centuries ago).  

In the table below you can see the German pronouns across accusative, nominative and dative cases (and their English equivalents). There are genitive pronouns, but they are very rarely used.

German accusative pronouns: example sentences

Let’s look a bit closer at how to use the accusative personal pronoun. Take this example:

Ich sehe ihn. I see him.

Wen oder was sehe ich? Whom or what do I see?  I see him.  Him is the object, expressed with the accusative form of the pronoun er which is ihn. Wer sieht? Who’s seeing? I’m the one doing the action, so we need the nominative pronoun ich. 

Here are some more examples of German personal pronouns in the accusative case. Notice that sie/Sie (her, they or you (formal singular or plural) is the same as in the nominative): 

Er kennt mich. He knows me.

Sie ruft ihn an. She is calling him.

Wir treffen euch. We are meeting you all.

Ihr liebt uns. You love us.

Wir suchen sie. We are looking for her (or for them, or if Sie captialised: for you, singular or plural formal).

German articles and other determiners in the accusative case

Determiners are a class of function words that “narrow down” a noun to help us answer the question Which one(s)?  The cat, a cat, this cat, that cat, each cat, every cat, some cats, various cats, many cats.

There are a handful of fixed determiners in German, such as ein paar (a few).  Most determiners, though, have case endings.  

Now, in order to get the right case ending for a determiner (or an adjective) in the accusative case (or any other case), you must know the gender of the noun (or, if there is more than one of the person or thing, the plural form).  Is a thing der, die or das?  If you’re not familiar with the concept of grammatical gender, check out my post How to remember German noun gender: the ultimate guide. On plurals see German noun plurals: the ultimate guide.  

Der-word accusative endings

To use the accusative case correctly, you also need to know the default set of strong endings, those of the determiner dies- (this) and the circumstance in which they are replaced by weak endings (or no ending at all). 

We can call the dies- endings strong endings. That’s because, in comparison to the alternative set of endings (the weak endings) they pack more informational punch about the case of the noun to which they refer (its role in the sentence). We can see the strong, dies- accusative endings underlined in the table below:

We’re going to add to this table later in this post.  

For now, note that most other determiners have exactly the same endings as dies-.  They are called the der words and include alle- (all), einige- (some), jede- (each), jene-  (that), welche- (which) and a handful of others.  

Der, die and das follow the dies- pattern but notice that the der, die, das stems are shorter across the cases (and that the neuter form has a middle a, das in the nominative and the accusative. We can see the accusative forms of the definite article in the accusative row of this table: 

Ein word accusative endings

A small number of determiners, called ein words, drop the dies- endings in the nominative of masculine and neuter nouns and the accusative (neuter nouns only). 

Besides ein (meaning a/ an), the other ein words are kein- (no, none) and the possessives mein (my), dein (singular your, informal), sein (his), unser- (our), eur- (plural your, informal), Ihr (your, formal) and ihr- (her, their). As ein does not itself have a plural form, we’ve used keine in the table to illustrate the plural ein word case endings:

We can consolidate the endings in the previous three tables into one table of der and ein word case endings (with nominative once again in the top row):  

German courses often overcomplicate declension by splitting out the ending sets into a plethora of separate tables that only leave us feeling confused.  

Instead, let’s understand the system and consolidate the table into our handy all-in-one table (in its final version, below). It contains all the ending information you need. Keep the table for (frequent)  reference and to learn example phrases to illustrate the endings. 

German strong adjectival endings in the accusative case

When we use an adjective before a noun without a determiner, the adjective takes the strong endings.  It’s is if the adjective is forced to do the heavy lifting of showing the case information because there is no determiner to do the work.  The adjectival endings are the same endings as dies- (except that the genitive masculine and neuter adjectival ending is -en not -es).  Here are some simple examples in the accusative:

(Der Wein) Ich trinke nur französichen Wein. I only drink French wine.

(Die Laune) Heute hat sie schlechte Laune. Today she’s in a bad mood (lit: has a bad mood).

(Das Bier) Wir kaufen kaltes Bier. We buy/are buying cold beer.

(Plural) Ich mag große Hunde.  I like large dogs.

In the same way, if there is a determiner before the adjective, but the determiner does not have a strong ending, the adjective has to step up and show the information.  Remember there are only three determiners that don’t have strong endings: ein words in the nominative (masculine or neuter nouns only) or accusative (neuter nouns only): 

(Nominative, masculine) Ein alter Mann sitzt auf dem Stuhl. An old man is sits (is sitting) on the chair.

(Nominative, neuter)  Das ist ein schweres Problem. That’s a difficult problem.

(Neuter, accusative) Sie kauft ein neues Heft. She buys a new exercise book.

(Neuter, accusative) Ich sehe ein kleines Kind. I see a small child.

German weak adjectival endings in the accusative case

When an adjective follows a determiner that does have the strong ending, the adjective does not have that strong ending. It can, as it were, relax into the weak ending. 

In other words, if an adjective follows a determiner, the adjective will have the weak ending except after ein words in three cases: masculine and neuter nominative and neuter accusative. You’ll remember from the section above that those three ein words are the ones that don’t have any endings themselves.  

The weak ending is -e for all genders in the nominative singular nouns and before feminine and neuter accusative nouns.  Otherwise the weak ending is always –en.  

Table of weak adjectival endings: 

Examples in the accusative:

(Der Mantel) Der alte Mann legte seinen blauen Mantel auf dem Stuhl.  The old man put his coat on the chair.

(Der Mann) Ich kenne diesen jungen Mann aber gar nicht. I don’t know this young man at all.

(Die Kirche). Gestern haben wir die alte Kirche besucht. We visited the old church yesterday.

(Das Zimmer) Er putzt das kleine Zimmer. He cleans the small room.

(Die Kirchen pl) Gestern haben wir die alten Kirchen besucht. We visited the old churches yesterday.

Now we can add add the weak adjective forms in red to produce one, handy all-in-one table, in its final version (below).

Dr P’s handy all-in-one German case endings table

This table contains all the ending information you need to get the right ending on a determiner or adjective. Keep the table for (frequent) reference and to learn example phrases to illustrate the endings:

X flags no ending (ein words in nominative (masculine and neuter, accusative neuter). Red indicates the weak adjectival endings (also used for adjectives in the genitive without a determiner, where you’d expect a strong ending).

When to use the German accusative case

Accusative for the direct object of a clause

Explanation

The direct object is the person or thing affected by the action of the verb in a clause. The butt of the joke, if you like :). Put it in the accusative.

A clause, by the way, is a phrase that contains at least a verb (word describing an action or a state) and a subject (the doer of the action or the person or thing in the state).  A clause can itself sometimes be a sentence on its own but some sentences are a collection of clauses strung together.  

For example, “I see.” “Jack built the house.” are both clauses and sentences. “I see the house that Jack built” is a sentence combined of two clauses.

An easy way to identify the direct object is to ask yourself “Wen?” (Who(m)?) or “Was?” (What?) is in the state or doing the action. For this reason, Germans sometimes call the accusative der Wen-Fall (Wer? case).

Take these sentences:

Der Mann gewinnt den großen Kampf. The man wins the big fight.

Whom or what does der Mann win? Den Kampf! So, Kampf goes into the accusative. Kampf is masculine, so we flag the case with den, the masculine accusative form. Mann is doing the action, he’s the subject, so it’s der Mann (masculine nominative definite article). (For all the forms of the definite article der (die, das etc) and other determiners, see the section on German articles and other determiners earlier in this post).

As we saw in the section on German articles and other determiners, above, it’s only masculine determiners (der words and ein words) that have a special accusative form (der becomes den).

Examples of German sentences with a subject (nominative) and a direct object (accusative)

Here are some more examples of simple sentences with a direct object in the accusative. We’ll start with a masculine direct object:

Der Bauer trägt einen roten Hut. The farmer is wearing a hat

Durch das Fenster sieht die Frau ihren Sohn. The woman sees her son through the window. (Don’t let your English brain be thrown by the word order here. Remember, it’s the case markers, not the word order are central to the meaning).

Die Kinder streicheln den alten Hund. The children are stroking the old dog.

And here are examples some with feminine, neuter and plural direct objects (underlined). Of course, in the accusative the determiner and adjectival endings for feminine and neuter (and plural), are the same as in the nominative:

Der Tourist hat das alte Schloß besucht. The tourist visited the old castle.

Die Wohnung hat eine neue Kuche. The apartment has a new kitchen.

Unsere neuen deutschen Nachbarn habe ich noch nicht kennengelernt. I haven’t met our new German neighbours yet. (Don’t let the German word order confuse you as to the meaning!)

Distinguishing the German direct object (accusative) from the indirect object (dative)

Here’s a sentence which illustrates the accusative along with the nominative and the dative cases:  

Der neue Lehrer gibt der kleinen Schülerin einen Keks. The new teacher gives the little schoolgirl a biscuit. 

Who is doing the action?  Der Lehrer!  So, Lehrer is nominative. In contrast, einen Keks is the thing that’s given. It’s acted on directly by the verb and so it’s the direct object (accusative case).  The little schoolgirl is less directly affected by the action. She is the object that is the recipient of the main object. In other words, she’s the indirect object (dative case).  

Here are some more examples of simple German sentences with a subject (nominative), a direct object (accusative) and an indirect object (dative):

Ich habe meinem Chef einen Vorschlag gemacht. I made a suggestion to my boss.

Die Schiedsrichterin zeigt dem Stürmer die Gelbe Karte.The referee shows the striker the yellow card.

Der Kellner reicht den Gästen die Speisekarte. The waiter passes the menu to the guests.

Schenkst du deinem Vater eine Uhr? Are you giving (as a gift) your father a watch?

Mein Freund zeigt seiner Schwester das neue Auto. My friend shows his sister the new car.

Wir bringen den Kindern die Geschenke. We’re bringing the children the presents.

Accusative for most nouns used greetings and wishes

Most common German “set phrase” greetings and wishes are in the accusative. 

Vielen Dank. Thank you very much.

Guten Morgen. Good morning.

Guten Rutsch (ins neue Jahr). Happy New Year!

Gute Besserung. Get well soon.

Angenehme Reise. (Have a) pleasant journey.

It’s not immediately obvious that the nouns in these examples are the object. Actually, the verb is implied (and so, in the last four examples, is ein): Ich wünsche dir einen guten Morgen, and so on.

Accusative to express a length of time or a specific time

We use the accusative to express a period of time during which something continues or a specific point in time when something happens.

Period of time when something continued

Wir haben den ganzen Tag am Strand verbracht. We spent the whole day at the beach.

Ich war den ganzen Sommer lang / drei Monate lang / einen Monat unterwegs. I was travelling all summer / for three months / a month.

Das Programm wird jeden Tag wiederholt. The programme is repeated every day.

Wo warst du die ganze Zeit? Where were you the whole time?

Mein ganzes Leben habe ich in Heidelberg gewohnt. I’ve lived in Heidelberg my whole life.

Specific time when something happened

Sie kommt jeden Tag und er kommt jede Woche.  She comes every day and he comes every week. 

Ich habe ihn (am) letzten Montag gesehen. I saw him last Monday (am = an dem can be added).

Wir haben ihn letzte Woche / letztes Jahr kennengelernt.  (We got to know him last week / last year).  

Wir besuchen sie (am) nächsten Mittwoch.  We’re visiting her next Wednesday.

Er wird dieses Jahr fünfzig. He’ll be fifty this year.

Be aware that, for indefinite time expressions, we use the genitive case:

Eines schonen Tages…. Eines Morgens… One fine day… One morning…

Accusative to express a unit of measurement or value

When we talk about how long, heavy, valuable, tall, somebody or something is, the unit of measurement is in the accusative case

Das ist keinen Pfennig wert! That’s not even worth a pfennig!

Es ist nur einen Zentimeter groß. It is only a centimetre tall.

Der Tisch ist einen Meter lang. The table is a/one meter long.

Du bist einen halben Kopf größer als ich. You’re half a head taller than me.

Die Kirche ist einen Kilometer entfernt. The church is a kilometre away from here.

Das Haus war nur einen Steinwurf entfernt. The house was only a stone’s throw away.

Die Wald liegt eine Stunde von der Stadt. The forest is an hour from the town.

Accusative follows some prepositions

Prepositions are function words like “in”, “under”, “for” “at” that typically indicate position, direction or time.  In German, they determine the case of the noun or pronoun to which they refer.

Accusative only prepositions

Some German prepositions always require the accusative. The most common are bis, für (for), ohne (without); durch (through), entlang (along), um (round, around), gegen. 

FUDGOB a fun acronym to help you remember the accusative only prepositions in German: Fancy Unicorns Dancing Goofy Onstage Ballet.

Here are some examples of each (masculine).  

Sie demonstrieren für den Freiden. They are demonstrating for peace. 

Das Rathaus liegt um die Ecke. The townhall is round the corner.

Sie fahren um den Berg herum. They drive around the mountain.

Wir gehen durch den Park. We are going through the park.

Seid Ihr für oder gegen meinen Plan? Are you for or against my plan?

Ich kann nicht ohne dich leben! I can’t live without you.

Bis nächste Woche!  Until next week! (said as a farewell)

Das Stück läuft bis nächsten Dienstag im Stadttheater. 

Accusative or dative prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen)

There are nine prepositions that demand der Akkusitiv when there is movement in a specific direction. When there is no movement in relation to the place, however, they are used with der Dativ.  These are the Wechselpräpositionen (literally “variable prepositions”):

an (on, to, at); auf (on, in, to, at); hinter (behind); in (in, into, to); neben (next to, beside); über (over, across, above); unter (under, among); vor (in front of, before); zwischen (between). 

The prepositions of position (or place) require the accusative if there is movement relative to the position (or place) and the dative if there is no movement.

To help make the distinction clear, it’s useful to think whether the question would be Wo? (Where? in the sense of at what place) or Wohin? (Where to? Whither?) 

(Dative) Wo liegt der Ball?  Der Ball liegt unter dem Tisch. Where is the ball (lying)? The ball is (lying) under the table.

(Accusative) Wohin rollt der Ball? Der Ball rollt unter den Tisch. Where is the ball rolling to? The ball is rolling (to) under the table.

Just because there’s a verb of motion doesn’t mean you’ll always use the accusative. It depends on the situation. The key, as I say, is do we have movement in relation to or from the object? In the previous sentence, the sense is that the ball is rolling to under the table from somewhere else, not that it’s rolling around under the table. There’s the same movement to somewhere (we can ask Wohin?) in this sentence:

(Accusative) Ich gehe in den Park. I’m going/walking to the park.

But if the movement isn’t to the park but within the park (Wo?), we need the dative:

(Dative) Ich spaziere im (= in dem) Park. I’m strolling/stroll in the park.

Here are is another example of the variable prepositions with movement (accusative, Wohin?), contrasted with a dative (Wo?) : 

(Dative) Das Bild hängt an der Wand.  The picture hangs on the wall. 

(Accusative) Er hängt das Bild an die Wand. He hangs the picture on the wall. 

Flexible German word order and the accusative case

In English, we don’t have case forms to flag the subject. We rely on word order.  The subject has to come in front of a verb and the object after. German’s case endings mean that the German sentence allow much more flexibility, so you really need to pay attention to them. 

To illustrate this, let’s switch round the positions of move man in front of the verb in this English sentence: 

The dog bites the man. > The man bites the dog. Pretty different meaning, uh?

Now let’s do the same in German:

Der Hund beißt den Mann. = Den Mann beißt der Hund.

in German the basic meaning doesn’t change because original case of Mann and Hund in the sentence is still clear from the unchanged nominative masculine article der for the subject doing the action, the dog, and the object receiving it: not der Mann (nominative) but den Man (accusative).

By moving den Mann to position one (in front of the verb), there is just a nuanced change in the German to put more emphasis on who got bitten.

To get the same effect in English we have to rephrase using a more complex sentence structure. Sometimes we use extra spoken emphasis in addition or instead:

It was the man that the dog bit. (As opposed, say, to the girl or the cat).

So, in German, don’t assume that the accusative object will come after the verb in a simple sentence as it has to do in English. 

To finish, let’s summarise with some key Akkusativ takeaways!

Key takeaways on the German accusative case

German has four cases, the nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.  The cases are categories into which we put nouns (or pronouns) depending on their function in a clause. 

When to use the German accusative

Der Akkusative, the accusative is the case used for:

• the object of a clause or sentence.  That’s to say, the person or thing that directly receives the action of the verb; 
• for most nouns used in greetings and wishes;
• to express a duration of time or a specific point in time;
• with units of measurement or value;
• always with some prepositions;
• with other prepositions accusative if there is movement in relation to the location,(otherwise, dative).

German flags case mainly with changes to the form of pronouns and endings on determiners and adjectives (no special noun endings at all in the nominative case, beyond the usual plural endings, when needed). It’s best to study case endings as one system. 

Accusative case-specific forms

Here’s a summary of the accusative case-specific forms:

• To master the accusative case endings – and all the others – you need to know the gender of a noun and also how to form German plurals. 
• We can see the accusative determiner endings or strong endings from dies-: diesen (masculine), diese (feminine) dieses (neutral) and diese (plural).  All other determiners have these endings in the accusative except ein word and other ein words before a neuter noun (when ein has no ending).
• If an adjective stands before a noun alone without a determiner, or comes after an ein word with no ending (i.e. before neuter nouns), the adjective takes the strong dies- ending (i.e. -en, -e , -es, -e). Otherwise, the adjective has the weak ending If the adjective comes after a determiner that already has the strong endings (-en in the masculine singular, -e in the feminine and neuter and -en in the plural).
• Pronouns have accusative forms: ich > mich; du > dich; er > ihn; wir > uns; ihr > euch (but sie/Sie stays the same).

Two accusative case mistakes to avoid

To finish, here are two accusative case ending pitfalls to guard against (also relevant to the nominative case):

• Don’t add -es to ein words (in the accusative, or nominative)(ich habe Xeines HausX).
• Remember that adjective strong plural ending in the accusative (and nominative) is -e and weak is -en: Im Cafe kann man gute Getränke kaufen. Die alten Männer essen gemeinsam verschiedene leckere Gerichte.

_________________________________________________

Well done on completing this all-you-need-to know overview of the German accusative case! You’ve discovered when the accusative is used, reviewed the accusative pronouns and seen that the system of accusative (and other) case endings really isn’t so complicated. Keep my all-in-one endings table to hand for reference as you read and write German. Learn some example phrases from the post to help the fix the accusative patterns in your memory that you can draw and adapt as you speak. Viel Erfolg!

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German cases made simple (without endless tables)

German nominative case

German genitive case (the only guide you’ll ever need)

The post German accusative case (one stop shop) appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

Let’s get started!

What is the German nominative case?

The nominative case, der Nominativ in German, is one of German’s four grammatical cases. The others are the accusative, dative and genitive. 

The nominative is, above all the case for the subject of a sentence (the person or thing doing the action of the verb). In the usage part of this post, we’ll explain this – and other uses – in full. First though, a quick recap of what German cases are and how they work.

Case is simply a word for a category into which we put a noun (person or thing) depending on its role in the sentence in relation to other nouns (or pronouns) and the verb (state or action word). Who does what to whom with whose… and so on.  

German mostly signals case by a change in the form not of the noun itself, but of three other types of word: pronouns, determiners and adjectives.

Pronouns are small words like he, it, they which can stand in for naming a person. English too has case-specific forms for pronouns.

Determiners are small class of function words that make clear which one of a noun we mean, for example this apple, the apple, an apple, my apple, all apples. 

Adjectives are words that describe what somebody or something is like – also take case endings add specific information about it, for example big apples, the red apple, those tasty apples. German, unlike English, adds case endings to determiners and adjectives.

Next let’s look German nominative case forms. We’ll start with German pronouns in the nominative and then looking at the nominative case endings of determiners (often divided by teachers into so-called der words and ein words) and adjectival endings.  

German nominative case forms

German pronouns in the nominative case (compared with accusative, dative)

Nouns in German don’t have special endings for the nominative case.    

Pronouns (words that stand in for a noun) are a different matter.  There are seven pronoun words in German and most of them differ according to case, so it’s important to use the right form. English too has retained a set of case-specific pronouns (even though most other case forms vanished from English centuries ago).  

In the table below you can see the German pronouns across nominative, accusative and dative cases (and their English equivalents). There are genitive pronouns, but they are very rarely used.

German articles and other determiners in the nominative case

Determiners are a class of function words that “narrow down” a noun to help us answer the question Which one(s)?  The cat, a cat, this cat, that cat, each cat, every cat, some cats.

There are a handful of fixed determiners in German, such as ein paar (a few).  Most determiners, though, have case endings.  

Now, in order to get the right case ending for a determiner (or an adjective) in the nominative case (or any other case), you must know the gender of a noun (or, if there is more than one of a noun, the plural form).  Is a thing der, die or das?  If you’re not familiar with the concept of grammatical gender, check out my post How to remember German noun gender: the ultimate guide. On plurals see German noun plurals: the ultimate guide.  

To use all the cases correctly, you also need to know the default set of strong endings, those of the determiner dies- (this) and the circumstance in which they are replaced by weak endings (or no ending at all). 

We can call the dies- endings strong endings, because they pack a lot of informational punch about the case of the noun to which they refer (its role in the sentence). We can see the nominative case endings of dies- underline in the nominative row of the table below:

We’re going to add to this table later in this post.  

For now, note that most other determiners have exactly the same endings as dies-.  They are called the der words and include alle- (all), einige- (some), jede- (each), jene-  (that), welche- (which) and a handful of others.  

Der, die and das follow the dies- pattern but notice that the der, die, das stems are shorter across the cases (and that the neuter form has a middle a, das in the nominative and the accusative). We can see the nominative forms of the definite article in the nominative row of this table: 

A small number of determiners, called ein words, drop the dies- endings in the nominative of masculine and neuter nouns and the accusative (neuter nouns only). 

Besides ein (meaning a/ an), the other ein words are kein- (no, none) and the possessives mein (my), dein (singular your, informal), sein (his), unser- (our), eur- (plural your, informal), Ihr (your, formal) and ihr- (her, their). As ein does not itself have a plural form, we’ve used keine in the table to illustrate the plural ein word case endings:

We can consolidate the endings in the previous three tables into one table of der and ein word case endings (with nominative once again in the top row):  

German courses often overcomplicate declension by splitting out the ending sets into a plethora of separate tables that only leave us feeling confused.  

Instead, let’s understand the system and consolidate the table into our handy all-in-one table (in its final version, below). It contains all the ending information you need. Keep the table for (frequent)  reference and to learn example phrases to illustrate the endings. 

German strong adjectival endings in the nominative case

When we use an adjective before a noun without a determiner, the adjective takes the strong endings.  It’s is if the adjective is forced to do the heavy lifting of showing the case information because there is no determiner to do the work.  The adjectival endings are the same endings as dies- (except that the genitive masculine and neuter adjectival ending is -en not -es).   

(Der Wein) Alter Wein ist teuer.  Old wine is expensive.

(Die Milch) Ich trinke immer kalte Milch. I always drink cold milk.

(Das Bier) Kaltes Bier schmekt gut.  Cold beer tastes good.

(Plural) Kleine Kinder spielen gerne.  Small children like playing.

In the same way, if there is a determiner before the adjective, but the determiner does not have a strong ending, the adjective has to step up and show the information.  Remember there are only three determiners that don’t have strong endings: ein words in the nominative (masculine or neuter nouns only) or accusative (neuter nouns only): 

(Nominative, masculine) Ein alter Mann sitzt auf dem Stuhl. An old man is sits (is sitting) on the chair.

(Nominative, neuter)  Das ist ein schweres Problem. That’s a difficult problem.

(Neuter, accusative) Sie kauft ein neues Heft. She buys a new exercise book.

German weak adjectival endings in the nominative case

When an adjective follows a determiner that does have the strong ending, the adjective does not have that strong ending. Instead it can, so to speak, relax and it takes the weak ending. 

In other words, if an adjective follows a determiner, the adjective will have the weak ending except after ein words in three cases: masculine and neuter nominative and neuter accusative. You’ll remember from the section above that those three ein words are the ones that don’t have any endings themselves.  

The weak ending is -e for all genders in the nominative singular nouns and before feminine and neuter accusative nouns.  Otherwise the weak ending is always –en.  

Table of weak adjectival endings: 

Examples:

Der alte Mann sitzt auf dem Stuhl.  The old man sits/is sitting on the chair.

Diese junge Frau ist meine Schwester. This young woman is my sister.

Dieses kleine Kind schläft noch. This small child is still sleeping.

Die alten Männer sitzen auf den Stühlen. The old men sit/are sitting on the chairs.

A string of adjectives in front of a noun will all have the same ending (weak or strong). For example:

Meine lieber alter Freund steht vor der Tur. My dear old friend is standing at the door

Frisches deutsches Obst ist teuer. Fresh German vegetables are expensive.

Now we’ve reviewed the whole case ending system, we can add add the weak adjective forms in red to produce one, handy all-in-one table, in its final version (below).

Dr P’s handy all-in-one German case endings table

This table contains all the ending information you need to get the right ending on a determiner or adjective. Keep the table for (frequent) reference and to learn example phrases to illustrate the endings:

X flags no ending (ein words in nominative (masculine and neuter), accusative neuter). Red indicates the weak adjectival endings (also used for adjectives in the genitive without a determiner, where you’d expect a strong ending).

When to use the German nominative case

Nominative for the subject of a clause

The subject of a German clause goes in the nominative case. 

A clause, by the way, is a phrase that contains at least a verb (word describing an action or a state) and a subject (the doer of the action or the person or thing in the state).  A clause can itself sometimes be a sentence on its own but some sentences are a collection of clauses strung together.  

For example, “I see.” “Jack built the house” are both clauses and sentences. “I see the house that Jack built” is a sentence combined of two clauses.

An easy way to identify the subject is to ask yourself Wer? (Who?) or Was? (What?) is in the state or doing the action.  For this reason, Germans sometimes call the nominative der Wer-Fall (Wer? case).

Take these sentences:

Die schwarze Katze schläft. The black cat sleeps.

Who is sleeping?  It’s the der Hund that’s in the state of sleeping.  So, der Hund is the subject and in the nominative and we flag this with the masculine nominative article, der. (For all the forms of the definite article der (die, das etc) and other determiners, see the section on German articles and other determiners earlier in this post).

Ich sehe ihn. I see him.

Wer sieht? Who is seeing? me who’s doing the seeing, so I’m nominative, expressed by the nominative pronoun ich . (For a table showing all the pronouns, see the above section on German pronouns in the nominative case (compared with the accusative, dative)).

Here’s a more complex sentence which illustrates the nominative along with the accusative and the dative cases:  

Der neue Lehrer gibt der kleinen Schülerin einen Keks. The new teacher gives the little schoolgirl a biscuit. 

Who is doing the action?  Der Lehrer!  So, Lehrer is nominative. In contrast, einen Keks is the thing that’s given. It’s acted on directly by the verb and so it’s the direct object (accusative case).  The little schoolgirl is less directly affected by the action. She is the object that is the recipient of the main object. In other words, she’s the indirect object (dative case).  

Nominative after six linking verb that rename, identify or describe the same subject

There are six verbs that link the subject to another noun or pronoun that renames or identifies the subject. The linking verbs ar  are sein (to be) werden (to become), bleiben (to stay), heißen (to be called), scheinen (to seem). With linking verbs, both the subject noun (or any pronoun) and the one linked to will be in the nominative.

Er ist ein alter Mann. He is an old man.

Ihr seid die Gewinner. You guys are the winners.

Dieses Buch ist ein berühmter Bestseller. This book is a famous bestseller.

Er wird ein guter Lehrer. He’ll be a good teacher.

Er heißt Herr Müller. He’s called Herr Müller. 

Sie bleibt meine beste Freundin. She remains my best friend.

Ein Wal ist kein Fisch. A whale isn’t a fish.

If an adjective stands alone with no noun after the linking verb, it’s regarded as nominative but it doesn’t have any ending at all: 

Das Buch ist blau. The book is blue.

Die Katzen sind weiß. The cats are white.

Sie wurde blaß. She became pale.

Die Sprache scheint schwierig. The language seems difficult.

Nominative for persons or things addressed 

If you address somebody directly, you identify them in the nominative:

Karl, komm her! Karl, come here!

Hallo, lieber Herr Müller! Hello, dear Mr Müller!

Junger Mann! Warten Sie bitte noch einen Moment. Please wait here a moment more, young man!

Mein Gott! My God!

This use is sometimes called a vocative. Some languages, like Latin and Polish have a separate set of vocative case endings specially for this….Thank goodness we’re only learning German! 

Nominative in exclamatory sentences

In exclamatory sentences, the noun or pronoun used to express surprise, admiration, or emotion goes in the nominative case.

Was für ein schöner Tag! What a beautiful day! 

Was für eine tolle Überraschung! What a surprise!

Wie schön das Konzert war! How beautiful the concert was!

Wie süß die Katze ist! How cute the cat is!

Flexible German word order and the nominative case

In English, we don’t have case forms to flag the subject. We rely on word order.  The subject has to come in front of a verb. German’s case endings mean that the German sentence allow much more flexibility, so you really need to pay attention to them. 

To illustrate this, let’s switch round the positions of move man in front of the verb in this English sentence: 

The dog bites the man. > The man bites the dog. Pretty different meaning, uh?

Now let’s do the same in German:

Der Hund beißt den Mann. = Den Mann beißt der Hund.

in German the basic meaning doesn’t change because original case of Mann and Hund in the sentence is still clear from the unchanged nominative masculine article der for the subject doing the action, the dog, and the object receiving it: not der Mann (nominative) but den Man (accusative).

By moving den Mann to position one (in front of the verb), the is just a nuanced change in the German to put more emphasis on who got bit.

In English we have to rephrase using a more complex sentence structure to get the same effect. Sometimes we use extra spoken emphasis in addition or instead:

It was the man that the dog bit. (As opposed, say, to the girl or the cat).

So, in German, don’t assume that the subject will come before the verb in a simple sentence as it has to do in English. 

Here are some examples of another part of the clause moving to place one, in front of the verb, for emphasis.  Once again, notice how, in English, we would have to change the basic sentence structure to something more complex.  

Erst letzte Woche habe ich mit ihm telefoniert.  Time phrase up front (erst letzte Woche). It was only last week that I had a telephone call with him (English creates a new it + to be clause for the emphasised element).  

Ihm haben zwei Mitarbeiter geholfen.  Dative upfront (ihm). He was helped by two colleagues (English uses a passive structure to turn the object into the subject).

Auf diesem Familienfoto fehlen einige Verwandte. Dative (auf diesem Familienfoto) up front. There are some relatives missing in this family photo (English has to add There is/ there are as a dummy subject).

To finish, let’s summarise with some key takeaways!

Key takeaways on the German nominative case

German has four cases, the nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.  The cases are categories into which we put nouns (or pronouns) depending on their function in a clause. 

The nominative is the case used for:

• the subject of a clause or sentence.  That’s to say, the person or thing who is does a verb; 
• after six verbs of  linking verb that rename, identify or describe the same subject;
• for persons or things addressed;
• exclamatory sentences.

German flags case mainly with changes to the form of pronouns and endings on determiners and adjectives (no special noun endings at all in the nominative case, beyond the usual plural endings, when needed). It’s best to study case endings as one system.  To summarise the nominative case-specific forms:

• To master the normative case endings – and all the others – you need to know the gender of a noun and also how to form German plurals. 
• We can see the nominative determiner endings or strong endings from dies-: dieser (masculine), diese (feminine) dieses (neutral) and diese (plural).  All other determiners have these endings in the nominative except if the ein word has no ending. Ein words only have no endings the masculine and neuter nominative (and in neuter accusative).
• If an adjective stands alone without a determiner, or comes after an ein word with no ending, the adjective takes the strong dies- ending (i.e. -er, -es). If the adjective comes after a determiner that already has the strong endings, the adjective has a weak ending (in the nominative the weak ending is -e in the singular and -en in the plural).

And finally! Here are two nominative case ending pitfalls to guard against:

• Don’t add a -er to masculine “ein words” in the nominative (Xich bin einer MannX) and an -es to neuter nominatives (X Das ist seines MesserX). and to add -es to ein words (nominative and accusative)(ich habe Xeines HausX).
• Remember that adjective strong plural ending in the nominative (and accusative) is -e and weak is -en: Im Cafe kann man gute Getränke kaufen; die alten Männer essen zusammen. 

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Well done on completing this all-you-need-to know overview of the German nominative. You’ve discovered when the nominative is used, reviewed the nominative pronouns and seen that the system of nominative (and other) case endings really isn’t so complicated. Keep my all-in-one endings table to hand for reference as you read and write German. Learn some example phrases from the post to help the fix the nominative patterns in your memory that you can draw and adapt as you speak. Viel Efolg!

Related posts

Learn German grammar. Why and how.

German cases made simple (without endless tables)

German accusative case (one stop shop)

German genitive case (the only guide you’ll ever need)

The post German nominative case (made clear) appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

The distinction between good mistakes and bad mistakes when you use your foreign language

First, let’s be clear! There’s lots of scope for errors when you’re learning a foreign language. You might choose the wrong word, make a grammar mistake, use the language in a way that’s technically correct but just doesn’t reflect the way a fluent speaker would naturally use it.

Making errors and mistakes in your foreign language is inevitable and it’s a sign that you’re out there actually using it.

That’s something to celebrate and, indeed, a willingness to dive in and not to be afraid of making mistakes is a characteristic of the successful language learner, as these enthusiasts told me at the Polyglot Gathering a few years ago:

At the same time not all mistakes are created equal.

Good mistakes happen when you’re trying to stretch yourself, when you’re using new structures or words, pushing yourself forward on the long road to fluency.

Bad mistakes are rather different. They are MUCH more common and they are the mistakes that are in our sights in this post.

I’m talking about those repetitive errors in bits of language that you’ve already been taught, studied and already come across many times before.

There’s no admirable s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g going on here…

…More like (unconscious) slouching!

These are foreign language mistakes that you probably could avoid, if only you paid a little more attention. If a teacher or other helpful advanced speaker points them out to you, you’ll often realise at one what you’ve done wrong.

The thing is, though, that most people, most of the time, won’t point out your mistakes..

The onus is on you to root them out.

Otherwise you run the risk that they become a “fossilised” feature of your personal version of the language.

Here’s a three step process to stop this happening.

Step One: spot your common mistakes using these three techniques

In order to blitz these bad boy recurring mistakes, you first need to shine a searchlight on them.

For this first step, you can use any of the three techniques below. You could use each one without the help of a teacher or other advanced speaker. If you do have access to an expert, though, we’ll flag exactly how they can help.

Then come two more steps, which we’ll briefly explain at the end of the post.

Compile a personalised mistake list

Sit down, take a pen and paper, reflect and then write down the, say, five most irritating slips that you think you regularly make.

These could be individual items of vocab or word combos (short phrases or “chunks”) that you mix up or regularly mispronounce. Or they could be mangled points of grammar, such as misusing a verb tense or getting word order wrong in a certain type of expression.

It may be that you’re not sufficiently aware of your errors to make a list at once. In that case, put it together gradually, by reflecting after your next two or three times “in action” (speaking or writing the language).

Once you have the list, try to get somebody with whom you use your new language (teacher, language exchange, friend or relative) involved.

Don’t show them your list (yet). Instead, ask them to tell you the five most grating mistakes that they notice you making time and time again. To focus their attention, you might ask them to compile their list over the course of several conversations with you (or, if you’re having written work corrected, as they read several texts that you’ve written).

Then, you can compare both lists (preferably with the other person’s help and explanation).

There’ll probably be some overlap, but you might be surprised to find that what they think needs attention is different from what you were worrying about most yourself. Now, combine the lists so that you have up to ten items (less if there was some overlap between you).

If you don’t have anybody to help you, you could write down examples of your supposed mistakes and use a text auto correct to confirm your hunch (or not!). Then move on to step two.

Record self and listen back

Pick a relevant topic that you could talk about briefly.

Take your mobile phone and record yourself speaking to yourself on a topic that’s relevant and interesting to you.

You can do this as a monologue or as a conversation where you imagine what the other person would say (you don’t have to play their part as well, but it may be fun to do that).

To keep this quick and concentrated, speak for not more than two or three minutes.

This experience may feel a bit weird at first. Just why, then, is it so different from a from a real two-way exchange?

Well, it’s not just that nobody else is as sparkling a conversationalist as you.

In a live interaction, the pressure is on to focus on the other person (and rightly so). We have to take in the wider scene, including the non-verbal reactions from our conversation partner. We’re also braced for the ball to come back over the net, in the form of the next utterance from that other person.

In stark contrast, when you’re doing a short “record self and listen back” exercise, all that live performance pressure is taken away, leaving you free to hear your own voice much more even as you speak.

Next listen back to the clip through several times, giving it your undivided attention until you have a put together a short list of your suspected mistakes.

You could, of course, record an actual two-way conversation as your “sample”.

But remember, the magic of this technique comes not just from listening to the recording but from the initial total focus on yourself as you speak.

Plus, the idea is that this is a simple little exercise that you can do often, without needing to line up somebody else.

Where a helper can come in handy is when you’re unsure whether something in your recording is wrong, when you’re collecting examples of correct usage and when you’re ready to practise them “live”. If you don’t have a helper, you could prepare a transcript (typing or using voice to text AI) and then use an auto correct (just as in the writing technique that we’ll discuss next).

Make a list of the mistakes that you’ve managed to identify from your recording(s).

Stream of consciousness writing

Choose an appealing topic.

Take a pen and paper and write a short text about it in your target language (200 to 300 words is ideal).

Usually, when writing, you’d want to think carefully about accuracy. This time, in contrast, try not to overthink it. Just write what comes naturally, for better or worse. If you hit a vocab or grammar block, write your way round it (by expressing yourself differently or even leaving the thought out).

Why the stream of consciousness approach to writing in this exercise?

Because it will help make clear how accurate your more or less spontaneous use of the language is at this stage on your learning journey.

Once you’ve finished, review your text.

Underline any obvious mistakes and things that might be wrong (but you’re not quite sure).

It could be that quite a bit of you’ve written is spot on. But you’ll probably also have written some phrases that are technically correct, but don’t sound natural, or something that’s just plain wrong.

If you have access to a tutor, exchange partner or other advanced speaker, you can now ask them to point all this out for you.

If you don’t have somebody to help, you could type up your text in software that has a mistake highlighting function (Google Docs will do this pretty accurately for many languages).

Note what Google (or whatever) flags up as wrong.

Step Two: Understand your mistakes and collect examples of correct (natural) usage

Using any one (or more) of these three techniques, you can come up with a personalised list of, say, the top ten killer errors that you’d like to cure.

If there are corrections that you’ve received from a native speaker (or from a text auto correct function) that you still don’t understand, try to find explanations from a teacher, another advanced speaker, in your course materials or online.

Is the problem that you’ve chosen the wrong word, mangled a set phrase or that you’re making a mistake of grammar? Is it that you’re saying something that’s grammatically correct but just doesn’t sound natural?

Once you’re sure you understand what was going wrong in each case on your list, arm yourself with three or four on-point examples of the correct usage for each. Embed the point in a short phrase that you could actually see yourself using. A teacher (or ChatGPT) can help here.

Step Three: Make the corrected usage your automatic default

It’s a fair bet that once you’ve identified and corrected your own common mistakes, you’re more likely to notice the correct usages again and again in your regular listening and reading.

You can take more active steps, too to make the native-style pattern on your own language production (speaking, writing).

For a start, you can regularly review your stock of illustrative examples.

You could practise writing them (by hand, please) or saying them out loud (with a bit of dramatic verve) every few days for a couple of weeks, for example .

In subsequent months, go back and practise your illustrative phrases every now and again,

Then, try to use them too, of course, in your writing practice and, above all, when you speak, both in a learner context such as in class or during a language exchange and out and about “in the wild.”

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So there we are. Three techniques and three steps to identify, understand and correct mistakes and to make sure that you actually use the correct version as a habit.

Of course, don’t constantly obsess about your errors that you make in your foreign language, whether they are new or repeat ones.

But if you want to do some deliberate work on your accuracy every now and again, those are three techniques that could really help.

If you give one of them a try, don’t forget to let me know how you do in the comments below.

The post How to find and fix mistakes in your foreign language speaking and writing appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

For the next two years, the event was forced to switch to an on-line format. Then, in early summer 2022, the physical event was back and last and many of us “regulars” and also many new faces set out for Poland.

I’ve taken my time, but now my daily Polyglot Gathering vlogs of this resurrection as a physical celebration are ready and all in one place here in this post. I hope you enjoy them!

Polyglot Gathering Opening evening vlog:

Polyglot Gathering Day One vlog:

Day Two vlog:

Day Three vlog:

Day Four vlog:

I’ve been attending (and speaking) at the Gathering since it began in 2014 and I’ve reported on each event here on the site. You can explore more via the links below:

Polyglot Gathering 2020 online vlogs

Polyglot Gathering 2019 vlogs

The post Polyglot Gathering daily vlogs appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

But not to worry! It’s still festive enough here at Howtogetfluent Towers.     

I do love a bit of Christmas kitsch, not least the light-up holly berry number that augments the mantelpiece in the dining room each year:

In this post, let’s keep it festive, with five fun Christmas foreign language practice ideas to spice up your language learning in the last days before Christmas (because we’ve none of us got anything else to do at this time of year, right?) 

Idea one: master the Christmas menu

What’s on the menu for a typical Christmas meal in your target culture?

In 300 words in your new language, describe the elements of the main meal.  For a different slant, find the recipe for a typical dish (in the language, mind!).

Extra sprinkle of spice: try making the recipe… or even the full meal. 

Idea two: write about how they spend Christmas

How are Christmas Eve and Christmas Day typically spent in your target culture?

Go for a 300-word composition again. You could flag any big points of contrast with what you know back home.

Extra sprinkle of spice: introduce one of the traditions that you’ve discovered into your own celebrations this year.  

Idea three: read the Biblical Nativity

Locate the story of the birth of Jesus from a standard modern version of the Bible in your target language. Yes, you do remember correctly: Matthew 1:18 to 2:12 and Luke 2:1 to 21.

Read, mark and inwardly digest both the vocab and the grammar.    

Exotic spice: find a classic, older translation in your language and compare the differences.  

Idea four: learn a Christmas song

Find the lyrics of a Christmas carol or a popular modern Christmas song in your target language. Try to get hold of an audio version as well, for example on YouTube or Spotify.

Work through the lyrics and listen to the audio.

Large pinch of spice: perform the song for your family or (if you’re feeling bashful) just for yourself into your phone’s voice recorder or video camera. 

Idea five: explain some Christmas pictures

Find five images of items that are typical of Christmas in your target culture (excluding food). I”m thinking wreaths, candles, a model nativity…plastic holly, even!

Write a couple of short sentences to describe each picture (about sixty words per pic).

Extra sprinkle of spice: obtain one of the items to decorate your own home. Ok, maybe it’s a bit late for that now…so how about just printing off some of the pictures and hanging them on your fridge door to get you in the mood? 

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Whichever one of the five Christmas language practice ideas that you choose, you could then consolidate by using what you’ve done as the basis for a conversation and feedback in your next one-to-one with your tutor, exchange partner or with a friend or relative who speaks the language.  

If the culture of the language you’re learning doesn’t do Christmas, no problem!

Try out similar activities for the next big festival that they do celebrate, instead.

Just some ideas, but I hope you’ll give one or two of them a try.

Even if it has to wait until after the Christmas rush.  

Merry Christmas! Nadolig Llawen! Frohe Weinachten! Joyeux Noël! Buon Natale! Kellemes Karácsonyt! Hyvää Joulua! Cчастливого Рождества! Feliz Natal! Eguberri On! Selamat Natal! Gleðileg Jól! Kαλά Χριστούγεννα! メリークリスマス!

Related posts:

Christmas YouTube videos to stay engaged with your language

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