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The Accusative Case in Action by Jeffery Donley, Ph.D.

The accusative case governs the direct object in a sentence. There are several accusative prepositions after which you have to use the accusative case. The most frequently used are: bis (“till, until, by”), durch (“through”), für (“for”) gegen (“against”), ohne (“without”) and um (“around”).

Exercise 47

Match each German example with its English equivalent.

<tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. <emphasis>Ich bin bis Ende August</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>We went to the theater without</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>in Stuttgart</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>our brother.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. <emphasis>Wir gingen ohne unseren</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>I'll be in Stuttgart till the end</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Bruder ins Theater</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>of August.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. <emphasis>Wir sind durch die Stadt gelaufen</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>Here is a letter for you.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. <emphasis>Hier ist ein Brief für dich</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>The whole world is against me.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>5. <emphasis>Die ganze Welt ist gegen mich</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>We walked through town.</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>6. <emphasis>Ich kümmere mich um dich</emphasis>.</p></td> <td><p>I will take care of you.</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 48</h2> <p>Most time expressions that do not include a preposition are in the accusative case. Phrases and greetings such as <emphasis>Gute Nacht!</emphasis> are part of that. The adjective <emphasis>gut</emphasis> gets an accusative ending, because it is a time expression. Seeing the complete sentence should clarify this: <emphasis>Ich wünsche dir eine gute Nacht</emphasis>.</p> <p>Translate the German into English and the English into German.</p> <ul> <li><p>Good night!</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>Herzlichen Gruß!</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>Sie sind schon einen Monat in Südamerika.</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>Guten Morgen!</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>We worked (have worked) all day.</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p>Diesen Winter fahre ich nach Amerika.</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> </ul> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/german-practice/the-noun/the-dative-case-in-action.htm" title="The Dative Case in Action">The Dative Case in 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