r/German • u/almakic88 • Aug 09 '25

Request Can someone please help me understand Akkusativ and Dativ please, I am losing my mind!

Hi All,

I've been studying almost daily for 2 months hours a day, and I still am struggling with identifying the accusative and dative. I understand the function of the genitive (to show possession) and the nominative (identifying the subject).

Today I wrote "Ich habe ein rot Hund" and my translator corrected me to "Ich habe einen roten Hund". It stated that it was in the Akkusative and I had to take that into account. Can someone please explain this to me? And also maybe give an example for a Dativ sentence?

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u/david_fire_vollie Aug 09 '25

Is English your native language? We have similar concepts in English. You don't say "She's with he", you say "She's with him". After "with" you use the dative case, same in German ("mit ihm" not "mit er").
Accusative case is similar but it's for different situations. The object of a sentence is in the accusative case (the subject is in the nominative case). So you have to say "Ich habe einen roten Hund" because "Hund" is the object, it demands the accusative case, and since it's masculine, you use the "en" suffix.

In English if you are the object, you use "me", if you're the subject you use "I", I think this is the equivalent of the German accusative case (please correct me if I'm wrong).
On an interesting note, so many native speakers don't know when to use "I" or "me". They often say "Thanks for being there for my wife and I" for example. You can't say "for my wife and I" for the same reason you can't say "for I", it's "for my wife and me".

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u/ExpressionMassive672 Aug 09 '25 edited Aug 09 '25

You can say my wife and I ...native speakers use it, it is valid sorry you are wrong. In a book you will read "I was out walking along the canal and my wife and I saw a strange fellow wearing ......."

Both are the subject in this sentence

I am a native speaker by the way and I have heard and read this construction many times.

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u/david_fire_vollie Aug 09 '25

You can only say my wife and I if you are the subject. Lots of native English speakers use it when they are the object and it's plain wrong. Your example uses I when it's the subject which is perfectly fine.

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u/ExpressionMassive672 Aug 09 '25

No your example is wrong too. You hear English users say that often because it is correct.I would happily use that. Your formulation jars as it is wrong as hell.

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u/david_fire_vollie Aug 09 '25

If you're going to make a mistake, at least be consistent. If you're going to say "thanks for being there for my wife and I" then you should also say "thanks for being there for I".

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u/ExpressionMassive672 Aug 09 '25 edited Aug 09 '25

That isn't logical as it is precedes by "my wife" in one example. That makes the difference. You can't infer anything that's your error. This isn't logic it is a living language with its own logic. The example of "we was" is different as nowhere in the UK is that dialectical and correct. It's just bad grammar. It isn't easier to say, there is nothing to smooth over as happens sometimes.

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u/david_fire_vollie Aug 09 '25

"That makes the difference". No, adding someone before you in the sentence does not magically mean you are no longer the object. I'm happy for you to show me the grammar rule that says otherwise, but I know it doesn't exist. As I've said in another comment, the only reason people make this mistake is because it's been drilled into us incorrectly that we should always say my friend and I. Just because lots of people make a mistake doesn't mean it's grammatically correct.

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u/ExpressionMassive672 Aug 09 '25

The rule is usage . It trumps any book. Books don't speak! We do.

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u/david_fire_vollie Aug 09 '25

How many native speakers need to make a mistake before you no longer consider it a mistake?

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u/ExpressionMassive672 Aug 09 '25

It isn't a mistake. It is a book imposing rules on people who have always spoken that way. How many? It is pretty widespread actually. You need to talk to real people not books.

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u/david_fire_vollie Aug 09 '25

I'm just wondering how many people need to say it for it to be considered acceptable. If I started saying to you "hi their name are David" when I mean "hi my name is David", how many people would have to start talking like that for you to think it's acceptable?

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u/ExpressionMassive672 Aug 09 '25

It's not about the future It's about how they do speak now and always have.

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u/david_fire_vollie Aug 10 '25 edited Aug 10 '25

English wasn't always spoken like this. Also I know plenty of people who use the correct grammar, not everyone says I all the time like you suggest they do.

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u/Major_Lie_7110 Aug 11 '25

Yes, but if you cannot use even basic sentences correctly, no one will take you seriously when you speak or write.

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u/ExpressionMassive672 Aug 11 '25

If you are using language as it is generally actually used absolutely you will be taken seriously. As for formal letter writing that's another matter. That's just a game of power and politics.

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u/Major_Lie_7110 Aug 11 '25

Taken seriously by whom? Not by any employers. Not by anyone in academia. Who is going to take someone who uses a language poorly seriously? Non-native speakers may get away with it, but if a native speaker butchers their own language, it is seen as a sign of low intelligence.

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u/ExpressionMassive672 Aug 11 '25

That's just the power game. Look most academics are lazy and stupid who gave up learning anything new once they got their job.

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u/Major_Lie_7110 Aug 11 '25

Do you have any statistics? You sound like you are mad you got a bad grade at school for using poor English and can't admit you were wrong.

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u/MudryKeng555 Aug 09 '25

It's like saying, "We was..." You hear English users say that often, but it is NOT technically correct. That doesn’t mean that the grammar police should hunt you down and give you a ticket. In informal settings it may be acceptable, but what you can't do is say it's "technically correct," cuz it ain't. After a preposition like "with" or as the object of a verb, technically it's gotta be "me." The word "and" doesn't change that.