111. The Definite Article ('the') in the Accusative Case - Objective Case

111.  The Definite Article ('the') in the Accusative Case - Objective Case 

From last time, meanings for our clothing are ....

die:    Bluse = blouse,  Hose = (pair of) pants, Kappe = cap, Krawatte = tie,
          Socke = sock,  Tasche = bag,  Brille = (pair of) glasses,  Jacke = coat / jacket
     
der:    Hut = hat,    Pullover = pullover,  Schal = scarf / shawl,  Mantel = overcoat,
           Schuh = shoe,  Anzug = suit,   Rock = skirt,  Stiefel = boot,  Gürtel = belt
     
das:   Hemd = shirt,  Kleid = dress,   Sakko = sports coat,  T-Shirt = t-shirt

Today, I'd like to expand on what we looked at yesterday and this centred on German nouns having case. In particular, when a noun provides the action, it is called the subject. If it has the action happen to it, it is called the object (of the verb). With the definite article (the), we saw that both feminine and neuter nouns did not change but masculine nouns changed from der to den.

Let's look at some more sentences to illustrate this ....

Die (S) Bluse kostet 20 Euro und ist schön. Ich nehme die (O) Bluse. (No change!)
Das (S) Hemd ist sehr modisch. Ich mag das (O) Hemd.  (No change!).....  BUT ....
Der (S) Hut is toll (great)! Ja, ich (S) kaufe (buy) den (O) Hut.  ( der becomes den).

It is time to introduce you now to a couple of technical terms ....

The subject is said to be in the Nominative Case & the object is said to be in the
Accusative Case. We will be using these terms from here on (also used in text books!)

Besides applying to the word for the, it also applies to the indefinite article (ein etc). With the indefinite articles, the same rules apply to subjects and objects (Nominative & Accusative) and we need to look at what changes take place and we can do that best in table form below.

              Masculine     Feminine    Neuter           Masculine    Feminine     Neuter
Nom.           der                die             das                   ein               eine              ein
Acc.            den *             die             das                   einen *        eine              ein

Again you'll have noticed that the masculine nouns change in the Accusative whereas the feminine and neuter nouns do not change. Let's look at some more examples. See if you can work out their meanings. We can use some of our new found food and clothing vocab.

1   Wir brauchen (need) einen Liter Milch. Wir haben keine Milch (kein endings same as for ein)
2   Ich kaufe ein Sakko. Das Sakko da (there) ist preiswert (inexpensive)!
3   Timo hat keine Jacke und keine Hose. Er hat nur ein T-Shirt und Bermuda-Shorts (plural).
4   Wir trinken die Limonade, aber ich trinke keinen Alkohol. Der Wein schmeckt schrecklich!
5   Hans und Anna haben einen Wagen aber kein Haus. Sie mieten (rent) eine Wohnung.

Rhine barge in Koblenz