German nominative case (made clear)

In this post, you’ll discover 1) What the German nominative case is 2) When to use the nominative case and 3) What the special nominative case forms of certain words are, including a clear explanation of the German case endings and my handy all-in-one table German case endings table. We’ll finish with some take-away tips in summary.

Let’s get started!

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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 and English nominative (subject) pronoun		German accusative (direct object) pronoun	German dative (indirect object) pronoun	English (direct or indirect) object pronoun
ich	I	mich	mir	me
du	(informal: thou)	dich	dir	(thee)
er	he	ihn/es	ihm	him/it
sie	she	sie	ihr	her
es	it	es	ihm	it
wir	we	uns	uns	us
ihr	you (plural, informal)	euch	euch	you
Sie/sie	you (formal sing, plural)  / they	Sie/sie	Ihnen/ihnen	you / them

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:

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	dieser	diese	dieses	diese
Accusative	diesen	diese	dieses	diese
Dative	diesem	dieser	diesem	diesen
Genitive	dieses	dieser	dieses	dieser

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: 

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	der	die	das	die
Accusative	den	die	das	die
Dative	dem	der	dem	den
Genitive	des	der	des	der

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:

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	ein (X)	eine	ein (X)	(keine)
Accusative	einen	eine	ein (X)	(keine)
Dative	einem	einer	einem	(keinen)
Genitive	eines	einer	eines	(keiner)

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):  

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	dieser ein-X	diese	dieses ein-X	diese
Accusative	diesen	diese	dieses ein-X	diese
Dative	diesem	dieser	diesem	diesen
Genitive	dieses	dieser	dieses	dieser

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: 

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	alte	alte	alte	alten
Accusative	alten	alte	alte	alten
Dative	alten	alten	alten	alten
Genitive	alten	alten	alten	alten

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:

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	dieser ein-X! -e!	diese -e	dieses ein-X! -e!	diese -en
Accusative	diesen –en	diese die -e	dieses ein-X! -e!	diese -en
Dative	diesem -en	dieser -en	diesem -en	diesen -en
Genitive	dieses (-en, strong adjs too!)	dieser -en	dieses (-en, strong adjs too!)	dieser -en

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).

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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!

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