Is there an app or other resource that helps you practice cases specifically? I just can't seem to get them in my brain even though I've asked a friend to explain them 💀
#Help with learning cases
wraith notch
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There are things like exercise sheets you can use: http://www.nthuleen.com/teach/grammar.html
Can you explain a bit about what part you're still confused by?
If it's just that you know the cases but you have trouble remembering them on the spot, like in a conversation, that's totally fine and will improve with practice. But if the problem is that you're struggling to understand them in the first place, then practice might not solve the issue.
So it's important to identify exactly what point you're getting stuck on.
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I guess my issue is knowing when to use the cases in my own sentences or how to comprehend sentences that use cases
Like in the sentence "Möchten Sie einen Termin machen?" I don't understand why it's einen
And I found this image somewhere that shows how sentences can be structured differently so if I don't understand the cases then I could completely misunderstand a sentence
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Like in the sentence "Möchten Sie einen Termin machen?" I don't understand why i...
I have a few more questions about this example, in order to understand the problem better.
- Do you know the gender of Termin?
- Do you know which gender and case combination leads to "einen"?
- Do you have any idea, even if you're not 100% sure, about what the case is and why?
wraith notch
- Not right off the bat
- Accusative and masculine, but i had to doublecheck my notes table to make sure
- I think its something to do with the fact that something (the appointment) is being made/set up?
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The gender of the noun is necessary to choose the right article, so firstly, make sure you know the gender of the noun. It's fine if you don't know it by memory. Vocab takes a long time to learn, so you can use a dictionary.
So basically, there are several different grammar rules which can happen, based on these situations:
- Verb with 1 object
- Verb with 2 objects (like geben)
- Preposition with 1 case
- Two-way preposition
Each of these different categories has its own rule.
In the example sentence "Möchten Sie einen Termin machen?", Termin is the object of machen. Machen has only 1 object.
For verbs with 1 object, something like 97% of them have their object as accusative.
The exceptions you can memorise.
You can use this list and choose some words from here you think are useful to memorise: http://germanforenglishspeakers.com/reference/dative-verbs/
Now, it's very important to remember, you're learning 2 different things here: firstly, you're learning when each case is used, which is what I described above. But secondly, once you know the case and the gender, you need to know what article to use.
It might take time to learn both of those things.
As a beginner, being introduced to objects and cases, my advice is: start by only focussing on verbs with 1 object, and just nominative and accusative case.
Once you feel like you fully understand that, then you can add another thing into the mix.
For example, you could do these worksheets.
wraith notch
ok i see
thank you so much for taking the time to write a super detailed answer
question, where would i find those worksheets
on the website you just linked?
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Yes, the first link I sent.
Feel free to post an update here depending on how it goes.
I'll give a tip to help with nominative and accusative case articles.
So, nominative case, you basically just memorise that. That's your starting point.
You probably already know it.
Der, das, die, die for definite articles. Mein, mein, meine, meine for indefinite articles and possessives.
wraith notch
yeah
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Ein and possessives (mein, dein, sein, etc.) all have the same declension anyway.
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i made sure to have those in my table
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And then for going from nominative to accusative, everything will be the same except masculine.
Only masculine changes between those cases.
So it's not too much of a change to memorise.
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Sounds good.
wraith notch
:3
thank you lol
i will definitely go do some of those worksheets once i do my actual school hw
thank you again
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ok so far im not having any issues with the first worksheet
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I'll work on them more tomorrow and let you know if I have any issues
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Does "haben" not use the accusative? Ex. Ich habe kein Geld
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Does "haben" not use the accusative? Ex. Ich habe kein Geld
It does, but Geld is neuter so it doesn't change in accusative case.
wraith notch
Ah ok thank you
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ok ive got one question
Fill in the correct DEFINITE article (der/die/das/den).
15. Herr und Frau Schmidt verstehen <blank> Sohn und <blank> Tochter nicht.
would the son and the daughter be the direct objects?
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would the son and the daughter be the direct objects?
Yes.
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And you still use accusative in a question right
Yeah, the type of clause won't impact the cases.
wraith notch
Ok, for some reason I get mixed up when it's a question lol
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Ok, for some reason I get mixed up when it's a question lol
Basically the only difference for a question compared to a basic clause is the verb position.
And of course there could be a question word at the start.
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I think it could be because I'm trying to use the "who or what is being 'verbed'" thing but with a question the thing isn't always known if that makes sense
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How so?
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Like the question gets information so I second guess whether the noun is getting "verbed"
I'm not sure how to explain it lol
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Oh okay. You're talking specifically about questions where the question word refers to an object.
Like "Was siehst du?"
wraith notch
Yeah kinda like that
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It depends on the question and what the question word is (or if there is no question word), because you can have simple questions like:
Du siehst den Mann.
Turned into a question:
Siehst du den Mann?
In that example, everything is exactly the same, as you can see.
Aside from the verb position.
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Yeah kinda like that
As for the ones you're asking about, it depends. Generally if it's an object, you can just use "was" for what, but if it's a person (who) then you have to choose the right case out of wer/wen/wem.
For most of these generic grammatical pronouns, they just follow masculine gender declension.
der/den/dem -> wer/wen/wem
For example:
Wer sieht den Mann? Who sees the man? (Wer is the subject/nominative, den Mann is accusative)
Wen sieht der Mann? Who does the man see? (Wen is accusative, der Mann is nominative)
wraith notch
Ah ok I see