Nominative case (1. Fall) in German

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1.What is the nominative case in German?
1.1.How to identify the Nominative noun in a sentence
1.2.Different forms of the nominative
2.Declension of the Nominative Case
2.1.Table of declension of the article and the noun in the nominative case
2.2.Table of personal pronouns in the nominative case
3.How do you use the nominative case in German?
3.1.As the subject of the verb
3.2.As a predicate nominative
3.3.As a noun of a direct address
4.Where do you place the nominative in a sentence
5.Exercises
5.1.Exercise of German nominative
5.2.Exercise of the nominative case

What is the nominative case in German?

Within a sentence the nominative is fundamental, because it is the subject of the sentence. An article, an adjective and a nouns can form the nominal group of the nominative. They are based on the case, gender and number. In order to find the nominative of a sentence, you have to answer the question:

wer oder was? - who or what (performs the action)

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How to identify the Nominative noun in a sentence

This table shows you some examples, how to ask for the nominative in a sentence.

Example	Question (Wer oder was?)	Answer
Der Student liest ein Gedicht. - The student reads a poem.	Wer liest ein Gedicht? - Who reads the poem?	der Student - the student
Sie trinkt Milch. - She drinks milk.	Wer trinkt Milch? - Who drinks milk?	sie - she
Seine kleine Wohnung wurde renoviert. - His small apartment was renovated.	Was wurde renoviert? - What has been renovated?	seine kleine Wohnung - his small apartment

Different forms of the nominative

The nominative can be an explicit person, personal pronoun or a nominal group (adjective/pronoun + noun).

Here you can find some examples for each type.

Type of Nominative	Example	Translation
explicit person	Der Vater geht einkaufen. Susie spricht Deutsch.	The father goes shopping. Susie speaks German.
personal pronoun	Er kann weit springen. Sie backt einen Kuchen.	He can jump far. She bakes a cake.
nominal group (adjective/pronoun + noun)	Ihr rotes Auto ist kaputt. Mein neues Handy funktioniert einwandfrei.	Her red car in broken. My new phone works properly.

Attention: the adjective is always declined according to the case, the gender and the number. To learn more about the declension of adjectives, have a look in to our lessons about the German adjectives.

Declension of the Nominative Case

In the nominative case the nouns remain unchanged. The articles and/or the adjective, which accompanies the noun, designate the case, gender and number. Have also a look into the topic of articles and adjectives in German.

Table of declension of the article and the noun in the nominative case

In this table you can find several examples for the declension of noun and their articles in the different genders. In addition, there are some examples of adjectives that accompany a noun in the nominative case.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
With a definite article	der Mann	die Frau	das Kind	die Leute
With an indefinite article	ein Mann	eine Frau	ein Kind	Leute
With a definite article + adjective	der gute Mann	die schöne Frau	das junge Kind	die vielen Leute
With an indefinite article + adjective	ein guter Mann	eine schöne Frau	ein junges Kind	viele Leute

Translation:

der gute Mann - the good man
die schöne Frau - the beautiful women
das junge Kind - the young child
die vielen Leute - the many people

Remember: there is no indefinite article in Plural.

Table of personal pronouns in the nominative case

In the nominative case you have to decline personal pronouns too. They are listed in this table.

Type of person	Personal pronoun
First person singular	ich - I
Second person singular	du - you (informal)
Third person singular (masculine, feminine, neuter)	er, sie, es - he, she, it
First person plural	wir - we
Second person plural	ihr - you
Third person plural + polite form	sie/Sie - they/you (formal)

How do you use the nominative case in German?

There are three different situations when to use the nominative case.

As the subject of the verb
As a predicate nominative
As a noun of a direct address

As the subject of the verb

Using the nominative case as the subject of the verb is the most common way in the German language. Have a look in the examples below to explore the nominative as a subject.

Der Junge liest ein Buch. - The boy reads a book.
Meine Katze ist weiß. - My cat is white.
Die Stadt ist bekannt. - The city is well-know.
Das Zimmer ist groß. - The room is large.

As a predicate nominative

A predicative nominative is a noun that is equated with the subject of the sentence or clause. It follows a linking verb and refers back to it. This table shows you common linking verbs.

Verb	Example
sein - to be	Ich bin eine Studentin. - I am student. Dieser Mann ist mein Vater. - This man is my father.
werden - to become/going to	Mein Bruder möchte Lehrer werden. - My brother wants to be a teacher. Wir werden berühmt. - We are going to be famous.
heißen - to be called	Die Katze heißt Lilly. - The cat is called Lilly. Mein Opa heißt Peter. - My grandpa is called Peter.
bleiben - to stay/be/remain	Dr. Müller bleibt unser Zahnarzt. - Dr. Müller remains our dentist. Sie bleibt meine Freundin. - She stays my friend.
scheinen - to appear/seem	Das scheint mir eine gute Idee. - This seems a good idea to me. Es scheint eine Katze zu sein. - It seems to be a cat.
aussehen - to look like	Wir sehen schlecht aus. - We look bad. Meine Schwester sieht jung aus. - My sister look young.

As a noun of a direct address

You have to use the nominative case in phrases where you use the imperative or you directly address someone.

Here are some examples:

Guten Tag, mein Freund. - Good day, my friend.
Herr Müller, wie geht es Ihnen? - Mr. Müller how are you?
Räum dein Zimmer auf, Clara! - Clean your room, Clara!
Sei still, Markus! - Be quite, Markus!

Where do you place the nominative in a sentence

Usually the nominative, being the subject, occupies the first place in a sentence and the it is followed by the verb. However, it often happens that the sentence starts with an adverb or another element. In this case, since the verb always occupies the second place, the nominative (subject) comes after the verb (in third place).

Here are some examples:

Luca singt ein Lied. - Luca sings a song.
Sie fahren morgen in die Berge. - They are going to the mountains tomorrow.
Gestern bin ich mit dem Hund spazieren gegangen - Yesterday I went on walk with my dog.
Nach der Arbeit gehe ich zum Strand. - After work I to the beach.

Now you have learned the German nominative case. You can browse through the exercises to improve your knowledge. Good luck!

Exercise of German nominative

Exercise of the nominative case

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Nominative case (1. Fall) in German

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Lesson outline

What is the nominative case in German?

Have a question?

Andrea B.

Eleonora L.

Jana K.

Francesca B.

Esma I.

Chiara B.

Dewina L.

Bruna D.

Angelina B.

Sarah R.

How to identify the Nominative noun in a sentence

Different forms of the nominative

Declension of the Nominative Case

Table of declension of the article and the noun in the nominative case

Table of personal pronouns in the nominative case

How do you use the nominative case in German?

As the subject of the verb

As a predicate nominative

As a noun of a direct address

Where do you place the nominative in a sentence

Exercises

Exercise of German nominative

Exercise of the nominative case

Exercises

Exercise of German nominative

Exercise of the nominative case

What our students say

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