Day 11: The accusative

what a case is · only masculine changes · accusative pronouns · für/ohne/durch/gegen/um · 30 min

This is the biggest day of week 2, and it starts with the fact that makes it survivable:

Only the masculine changes. der → den, ein → einen. That is it. Feminine, neuter and plural are identical to what you learned on Day 6.

Three quarters of today is already done. Read that again if German cases have scared you before — this is genuinely a one-column problem.

1. What a case actually is

English shows who does what by word order:

The dog bites the man. ≠ The man bites the dog.

Move the words, change the meaning. English has no other tool.

German marks the role on the article instead:

der says "I am the one doing it". den says "I am the one it happens to". Once the article carries that information, word order is free to do something else — usually emphasis. That is why German can front any chunk it likes (Day 4's V2 rule) without becoming ambiguous.

★ Cases are not decoration. They are what buys German its word order freedom.English pays for its fixed word order with rigidity; German pays for its flexibility with four case forms. Neither is harder overall — they just charge you in different places.

The two cases you have now

Ich trinke den Kaffee. — Wer trinkt? Ich (nominative).Wen/was trinke ich? den Kaffee (accusative).

2. ★★ The table — and the one column that moves

Everything with ein-endings follows along — kein, and every possessive from Day 10:

★ One rule covers all of it: masculine accusative adds -en.der→den · ein→einen · kein→keinen · mein→meinen · ihr→ihren.

Now the -en you have been seeing makes sense

You have been using the accusative correctly for a week. Today just names it.

3. Which verbs take it

Most verbs that can have an object take the accusative. These are the ones you already know:

haben · essen · trinken · kaufen · sehen · lesen · brauchen · suchen · nehmen · machen · lernen · möchten

★ Practical shortcut for the next three weeks: when you build a sentence, ask "is the object a der-word?" If no, do nothing at all. If yes, say den / einen.That single check is 100% of the accusative.

4. Accusative pronouns

The pronouns change too — and English does exactly the same thing, which makes this the easiest table in the course.

English speakers already do this — I see him, not "I see he". Same instinct, same three rows that actually change.

★ er → ihn is the one to drill, because it is where the German masculine shows up again and where English gives you no warning.

⚠️ German says ihn / sie / es where English says it for all three. The pronoun follows the noun's gender, not its aliveness.

5. The five accusative prepositions

These five always take the accusative — no thinking, no exceptions:

★ Memorise them as a rhythm, not a list. Say it fast, ten times:

durch — für — gegen — ohne — um

Some learners use the initials DFGOU; most just chant it. Either way, when one of these five appears, the noun after it is accusative. No decision required.

★ Note für dich, ohne mich — prepositions take the pronoun forms from section 4 too.

6. Dialogue

Anna: Was machst du heute? — vass MAKHST doo HOY-tuhAlex: Ich kaufe einen Tisch und eine Lampe für meine Wohnung.Anna: Brauchst du auch einen Stuhl?Alex: Nein, ich habe schon zwei Stühle. Aber ich brauche ein Regal.Anna: Ich habe ein Regal! Möchtest du es?Alex: Wirklich? Ohne dich wäre das sehr teuer. — OH-nuh dikh — Without you that'd be expensive.Anna: Kein Problem. Ich sehe dich um acht, ja?Alex: Gegen acht, ja. Ich hole es dann. — ikh HOH-luh es dan — I'll pick it up then.

★ Every accusative in that dialogue: einen Tisch, einen Stuhl (masculine → changed);eine Lampe, ein Regal (feminine, neuter → unchanged); meine Wohnung;dich, es; and ohne dich, um acht, gegen acht after the prepositions.

7. Exercises

A. der or den?

1. Ich sehe ___ Mann. 2. ___ Mann ist groß. 3. Ich kaufe ___ Tisch.
2. ___ Tisch ist neu. 5. Ich lese ___ Brief.

B. ein, eine, or einen?

1. Ich habe ___ Bruder. 2. Ich habe ___ Schwester. 3. Ich habe ___ Kind.
2. Ich kaufe ___ Lampe. 5. Ich brauche ___ Stuhl. 6. Es gibt ___ Supermarkt hier.

C. Possessives in the accusative.

1. Ich sehe ___ Bruder. (my) 2. Ich sehe ___ Schwester. (my)
2. Sie liebt ___ Mann. (her) 4. Er sucht ___ Buch. (his)

D. Replace the noun with a pronoun.

1. Ich kaufe den Tisch. → Ich kaufe ___.
2. Ich lese das Buch. → Ich lese ___.
3. Ich sehe die Lampe. → Ich sehe ___.
4. Ich sehe den Mann. → Ich sehe ___.

E. Fill in after the preposition.

1. Das ist für ___ Bruder. (my) 2. Wir gehen durch ___ Park. (the)
2. Ich komme ohne ___. (you, du) 4. Ein Geschenk für ___. (me)

F. ⚠️ Fix the error.

1. Ich habe ein Bruder.
2. Ich sehe der Mann.
3. Der Tisch ist neu. Ich kaufe er.
4. Das ist für du.
5. Ich trinke den Milch.

8. Today's 10 sentences (flashcards)

1. Ich habe einen Bruder. — I have a brother (ikh HAH-buh INE-en BROO-duh)
2. Ich sehe den Mann. — I see the man (ikh ZAY-uh dayn MAN)
3. Ich kaufe einen Tisch. — I'm buying a table (ikh KOW-fuh INE-en TISH)
4. Ich brauche keinen Stuhl. — I don't need a chair (ikh BROW-khuh KY-nen SHTOOL)
5. Ich kaufe ihn. — I'm buying it (masculine thing) (ikh KOW-fuh EEN)
6. Das ist für dich. — That's for you (dass ist fewr DIKH)
7. Ohne dich geht es nicht. — It doesn't work without you (OH-nuh dikh GAYT es nikht)
8. Wir gehen durch den Park. — We're going through the park (veer GAY-en doorkh dayn PARK)
9. Ich komme gegen acht. — I'll come around eight (ikh KOM-muh GAY-gen AKHT)
10. Ich sehe dich morgen. — I'll see you tomorrow (ikh ZAY-uh dikh MOR-gen)

9. 📲 Upload to LangNote

Upload section 2 (the table), section 5 (the five prepositions) and section 8 → study language German.

★ The one check that carries you. Before you say any sentence with an object:"Is the object a der-word?" Yes → den / einen. No → change nothing.Run that check consciously for three days and it goes automatic.

⚠️ Do not let this slide. Day 15 adds the dative, and the dative is only hard for people who never made the accusative automatic. The next three days (food, ordering, likes) are deliberately light so you can drill this one.

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