Akkusativ

The direct object — the person or thing receiving the action. Only masculine changes.

Maskulin Feminin Neutrum Plural

Articles

The Akkusativ is the easiest case to learn because only masculine changes. Feminin, neutrum, and plural articles stay exactly the same as Nominativ. Just remember: der → den, ein → einen, kein → keinen.

	Maskulin	Feminin	Neutrum	Plural
Bestimmt	den Mann	die Frau	das Kind	die Kinder
Unbestimmt	einen Mann	eine Frau	ein Kind	—
Negation	keinen Mann	keine Frau	kein Kind	keine Kinder

Direct objects

The direct object is the thing being acted upon — the thing you eat, drink, see, buy, etc. In English, word order tells you who's doing what. In German, the article tells you: "der" = subject, "den" = object.

Ich trinke den Kaffee.

I'm drinking the coffee.

trinken = to drink. "den" because Kaffee is maskulin and it's the object being drunk.

Sie liest das Buch.

She is reading the book.

lesen = to read · liest = she reads. "das" stays "das" because Buch is neutrum.

Wir kaufen die Blumen.

We are buying the flowers.

kaufen = to buy · die Blumen = the flowers (plural of die Blume)

Er isst einen Apfel.

He is eating an apple.

essen = to eat · isst = he eats · der Apfel = apple. "ein" becomes "einen" because Apfel is maskulin.

Only masculine changes

This is the key insight for Akkusativ. Look at the same noun (der Hund) used as subject vs. object — only the article changes. For feminin, neutrum, and plural, everything stays identical to Nominativ.

Nom: Der Hund schläft.

The dog is sleeping. (der Hund = subject, doing the sleeping)

der Hund (maskulin) = dog · schlafen = to sleep. "Der" because Hund is the subject (Nominativ maskulin).

Akk: Ich sehe den Hund.

I see the dog. (den Hund = object, being seen)

sehen = to see. "Den" because Hund is maskulin and now the direct object — der → den in Akkusativ.

Ich kaufe die Tasche.

I buy the bag. (die stays die — feminin doesn't change)

die Tasche (feminin) = bag/purse · kaufen = to buy. "Die" stays die in Akkusativ because only maskulin changes.

Er hat ein Auto.

He has a car. (ein stays ein — neutrum doesn't change)

das Auto (neutrum) = car · haben = to have. "Ein" stays ein in Akkusativ because only maskulin changes.

Pronouns

When a pronoun is the direct object (someone sees me, likes you, knows him), it changes form. The biggest changes: ich → mich, du → dich, er → ihn. Notice "wir → uns" and "ihr → euch" — these are the same in Dativ too.

Nom.	Akk.	Example
ich	mich	Er sieht mich. He sees me.
du	dich	Ich mag dich. I like you.
er	ihn	Ich kenne ihn. I know him.
sie	sie	Ich frage sie. I ask her. (sie stays sie)
wir	uns	Er besucht uns. He visits us.
ihr	euch	Ich lade euch ein. I'm inviting you (pl).
sie/Sie	sie/Sie	Ich verstehe Sie. I understand you (formal). (Sie stays Sie)

Verbs that take Akkusativ

Most transitive verbs (verbs where you do something to something) take Akkusativ. If you can ask "What are you ___-ing?" and get an answer, it's probably Akkusativ. Some common ones worth memorizing:

haben

Ich habe einen Hund.I have a dog. (haben = to have)

kaufen

Sie kauft ein Kleid.She buys a dress. (kaufen = to buy · das Kleid = dress)

trinken

Er trinkt den Tee.He drinks the tea. (trinken = to drink · der Tee = tea)

essen

Wir essen eine Pizza.We eat a pizza. (essen = to eat · die Pizza = pizza)

suchen

Ich suche den Schlüssel.I'm looking for the key. (suchen = to search/look for · der Schlüssel = key)

brauchen

Du brauchst einen Stift.You need a pen. (brauchen = to need · der Stift = pen)

möchten

Ich möchte ein Wasser.I'd like a water. (möchten = would like — very useful for ordering!)

Prepositions with Akkusativ

These prepositions always trigger Akkusativ, no exceptions. A handy mnemonic: FODGU — für, ohne, durch, gegen, um. After any of these words, the noun that follows must be in Akkusativ.

für

Das ist für meinen Vater.That is for my father. (für = for · der Vater = father · mein → meinen in Akk.)

ohne

Ich gehe ohne den Hund.I'm going without the dog. (ohne = without · gehen = to go)

durch

Wir gehen durch den Park.We walk through the park. (durch = through · der Park = park)

gegen

Er fährt gegen den Baum.He drives into the tree. (gegen = against/into · der Baum = tree · fahren = to drive)

um

Wir sitzen um den Tisch.We sit around the table. (um = around · der Tisch = table · sitzen = to sit)

How to spot Akkusativ

Ask: Wen? (whom?) or Was? (what?) is being acted upon.
Only masculine changes: der → den, ein → einen — that's 90% of it.

Example: "Ich sehe den Mann." → Wen sehe ich? → Den Mann. (The man is the direct object.)

Related

• es gibt — a fixed construction that always takes Akkusativ
• Pronouns — mich, dich, ihn... the Akkusativ pronouns
• Reflexive Verbs — mich, dich, sich as Akkusativ objects