Six tips to help you understand German cases

If you've ever studied German, whether at school, university or later in life, you probably remember the infamous case system. You may even remember the list: mit, nach, bei, seit... Whether you can apply them is another question...

Many people who come to Regina Coeli for German language training want to master German cases, among other things. Despite all the cramming they did in the past, they still have to guess when it comes to articles. If you have to speak German in a business environment, that's not very professional, of course.
‘Some students are downright disappointed when I explain the cases to them,’ says Katharina Stoll, German language trainer at Regina Coeli. "They expect me to fill the entire board with cases and exceptions, but I can explain the essentials in five minutes. And then we practise, practise, practise. Many of our students have the persistent idea that cases are difficult."

The importance of cases for communication is evident from the images below.

Er zeigt seiner Frau die Skulptur. (He shows his wife the sculpture)		Er zeigt der Skulptur seine Frau. (He shows his wife to the sculpture)		Er zeigt die Skulptur seiner Frau. (He shows his wife’s sculpture)

Katharina gives six tips for mastering the cases.

Tip 1: link each rule to two words that you use often.

Your brain will automatically link all other words with the same ending to the gender.
For example: -ung = die: die Zeitung (the newspaper), die Besprechung (the meeting)
The more you speak German, the more you will develop a feel for the correct gender.

Tip 2: Learn the forms of the cases horizontally by case

• The forms of the 1st case will be no problem for you.
• 2nd case: des – der (The genitive case shows possession – similar to adding ‘of’ or an apostrophe-s in English.)
• 3rd case: dem – der en meervoud den -n: The dative case is used for indirect objects, typically the person to whom something is given.
• 4th case: same as the nominative case, except for the masculine form den

Tip 3: The function of the German cases is similar to how word order and prepositions convey meaning in English

Tip 4: Learn the basic forms well

All other forms related to the cases are just variations of these: dem – einem – ihm; der – einer – ihr enzovoorts

Tip 5: Learn the most important prepositions with their cases

For example

• mit dem, mit der, mit den, mit Ihnen, mit mir
• für den, für die, für das, für die, für Sie, für mich

Tip 6: Learn the 10 most important verbs that have an irregular declension.

For example: Ich danke Ihnen. Ich bitte Sie, mich anzurufen.

Practise, practise, practise

Finally, Katharina adds: ‘It is important that you immediately apply the exceptions in exercises. Speak and allow yourself to be corrected. There are also all kinds of websites where you can practise using German cases. There is a lot to be found online.’