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On this page you'll learn everything about verbs with nominative complements. ( = Verben mit Nominativ)
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. It is necessary to understand teh concept of complements to understand the topic: Verben mit Nominativ.
Nominative Complements (Verben mit Nominativ)
Verbs always require a noun in the nominative case
The verb can‘t function by itself and needs a subject → The subject is in the nominative case, so we call this a nominative complement.
The subject can be a person or a thing.
Examples
- „Der Mann geht mit ihr spazieren.“
„Der Mann“ is the subject ⇒ Nominative - „Wir sind mit dem Zug nach Berlin gefahren.“
„Wir“ is the subject ⇒ Nominative - „Das Haus steht direkt am Strand.“
„Das Haus“ is the subject ⇒ Nominative
Verbs with two Nominative Complements (Double Nominative)
The verbs „sein“, „werden“, „bleiben“ and heißen“ require a second nominative complement in addition to the subject:
- „Der Mann ist ein Idiot.“
- „Mein Sohn wird ein Pilot.“
- „Er bleibt ein Lehrer.“
When you use these verbs without a Preposition, the corresponding object is always in the Nominative form.
Why? Both nouns/pronouns are referring to the same person!
Attention: Verben mit Nominativ
If these are followed by measurements (weight, length, time, …), we need to use the accusative case! (The question is "how?" → No nominative case possible.)
- „Der Schrank ist einen Meter hoch.“
But: „Der Schrank ist ein alter Schrank.“
- „Er bleibt einen Monat im Krankenhaus.“
- „Der Tisch ist einen Meter Achzig lang.“
Sentences without the Nominative case
When we give commands (Imperative), we don’t need a nominative complement, since we talk to the person we want to perform the action. (The subject is implied, just like in English):
- "Komm sofort nach Hause!"
In impersonal passive, the subject could be unknown. In passive voice, the person who is performing the action is not important. → Therefore, it is possible to have a sentence without a subject and therefore without nominative.
- „Auf den Mann wurde geschossen.“
Summary - Verben mit Nominativ
- In general, every verb needs a subject → Every verb has a nominative complement.
- Only the imperative and impersonal passive can be used without the nominative complement.
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Related Topics:
Entire lesson in German only: Verben mit Nominativ
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 Akkusativ (Verbs with Accusative)
- 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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