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On this page you'll learn everything about verbs with accusative complements. Complements are really important to help you know whether you should use the Nominative, Accusative, Dative, or Genitive case.
But first, you have to know what a complement is. If you aren't sure, take a look at this page on Complements in the German language.
Verben mit Akkusativ (a.k.a. Akkusativobjekt)
The majority of German verbs have an accusative complement (a.k.a. accusative object). That means when you use the verb, you have to include an accusative object or the sentence won't make sense or be grammatically correct. The accusative complement is the direct object - the person or thing being acted upon.
A few verbs even have a double accusative complement, which means you must include two accusative objects with the verb.
Examples - Verben mit Akkusativ
- „Der Mann besucht seine Eltern.“.
„seine Eltern“ is the Accusative Complements. Without it, the sentence doesn't make sense.
Direct Object ⇒ Accusative
- „Er kennt den Mann.“
„den Mann“ is the Accusative Complements. Without it, the sentence doesn't make sense.
Direct Object ⇒ Accusative
The sentences would make no sense with only the subject (nominative complement) and without the accusative complement. You can ask here with „Wen?“ and it is also clearly the direct object, that is, the object with which something is done that is used for the action and so it is an accusative complement.
Word Order - Verben mit Akkusativ
Normal Sentence / Main Clause:
Question:
Double Accusative Complements
Having double accusative complements (two accusative objects in the same sentence) is quite rare and should be avoided when possible.
There are 5 common verbs that have double accusative complements: "abfragen," "abhören," "lehren," "nennen," "kosten"
Examples:
- „Mein Vater fragt mich die Vokabeln ab.“
"Mich" and "die Vokabeln" are the 2 objects and both are in the accusative case. Grammatically you can‘t leave either one out without an open question remaining.
In informal language the part that is obvious (in this case "mich") is often left out.
- „Der Lehrer lehrt uns die deutsche Sprache.“
"Uns" and "die deutsche Sprache" are the two objects and both are in the accusative case.
In informal language the part that is obvious (in this case: "uns") is often left out.
- „Der Apfel kostet mich einen Euro.“
"Mich" and "einen Euro" are 2 accusative objects.
Normally, we will leave out "mich" because it is obvious.
These verbs need a person and a thing as accusative objects. If the speaker himself is the person, we often leave out the person because it is obvious.
- „Er nennt mich einen Idiot.“
"Mich" and "einen Idioten" are 2 accusative objects.
We can‘t leave out "mich" because it isn't obvious!
In informal language, indirect speech is often used:
- „Er sagt, dass ich ein Idiot sei.“
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Related Topics:
Entire lesson in German only: Verben mit Akkusativ
You can find more lessons on Verbs here:
- Was sind Verben? (What are Verbs?)
- Starke Verben (Strong Verbs)
- „sein“ und „haben“ ("sein" and "haben")
- Reflexive Verben (Reflexive Verbs)
- Trennbare & Untrennbare Verben (Separable & Inseparable Verbs)
- Modalverben (Modal Verbs)
- Partizip 1 (Present Participle)
- Partizip 2 (Past Participle)
- Das Verb „werden” (Verb "werden")
- Das Verb „lassen” (Verb "lassen")
- Imperativ (Imperative)
- Konjunktiv 1 (Subjunctive 1)
- Konjunktiv 2 (Subjunctive 2)
- Das Passiv (Passive Voice)
- Vorgangspassiv (Process Passive)
- Das Passiv in allen zeitformen (Process Passive in all tenses)
- Verben ohne Passiv (Verbs without Passive voice)
- Zustandpassiv (Status Passive)
- Das unpersönliche Passiv (Impersonal Passive)
- Verben mit Ergänzungen (Verbs with Complements)
- Verben mit Nominativ (Verbs with Nominative)
- Verben mit doppeltem Akkusativ (Verbs with double Accusative)
- Verben mit Dativ (Verbs with Dative)
- Verben mit Akkusativ & Dativ (Verbs with Accusative & Dative)
- Verben mit Genitiv (Verbs with Genitive)
- Verben mit Präpositionen (Verbs with Prepositions)
Lists on the topic of German verbs:
- Die 30 wichtigsten Verben mit Vokalwechsel (The 30 most important verbs with vowel change)
- Untrennbare Präfixe (Inseparable Prefixes)
- Wechselpräfixe (Two-case Prefixes)
- Unregelmäßige Partizip 2 Formen (Irregular Participle 2 forms)
- Nomen-Verb-Verbindungen (Noun-Verb compounds)
You can find an overview of all topics under German Grammar.
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