Nominativ - Wer? Was?
Nominativ — for English Speakers
Introduction
The nominative case marks the subject of a sentence — whoever does the action. English used to have cases too (who vs whom), but dropped most of them. In German, articles change based on case: der/die/das in nominative. Getting comfortable with nominative is the foundation, because every other case builds on it.
German vs English
In German
Der Mann liest. (the man reads — subject)
In English
English: 'The man reads' — 'the' never changes
Key Difference
German articles change by case (der → den → dem); English 'the' stays the same always.
In German
Wer? Was? — nominative question words
In English
English 'who?' is also a subject form (vs 'whom')
Key Difference
English mostly ignores who/whom distinction; German strictly enforces case in articles.
Common Mistakes for English Speakers
Ich sehe der Mann.
Using nominative 'der' where accusative 'den' is needed — English 'the' never changes, so case feels unnecessary.
Das Frau ist nett.
Picking the wrong article gender because English has only one 'the'.
Practice Examples
Der Hund schläft.
The dog is sleeping.
Die Katze ist klein.
The cat is small.
Das Kind spielt draußen.
The child is playing outside.
Memory Tip
Nominative = the 'name tag' case — it answers 'who?' just like a nametag tells you who someone is.
View Grammar Rule
Nominativ - Wer? Was?
Nominativ — A1
Practice Exercises
Nominativ - Wer? Was? Übungen
7 exercises
Other Languages
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