List: Double Accusative Verbs

The double accusative complement is rare and avoided when possible.

Verbs with a double accusative complement need, in addition to a noun in nominative, another person AND an object in order to make sense. There are only a few verbs with a double accusative complement that are still used.

They are: „abfragen,“ „angehen,“ „lehren,“ „nennen,“ and „kosten

abfragen + double accusative

Example:

• „Mein Vater fragt mich die Vokabeln ab.“ 

„Mich“ and „die Vokabeln“ are two complements and are in accusative (since no one receives anything). You can’t leave out either one without leaving an open question

Warning:

In informal language the obvious part (in this case „mich“) is often left out.

angehen + double accusative

Example:

• „Das geht dich einen Dreck an.“

„Dich“ and „einen Dreck“ are two complements and both have to be accusative (no recipient --> 2x accusative). You can’t leave out either one. 

Warning:

Two accusative objects are used only in the sense of „that concerns you (or not).“ For other meanings there is no double accusative.

lehren / unterrichten + double accusative

Example:

• „Der Lehrer lehrt uns die deutsche Sprache.“

„Uns“ and „die deutsche Sprache“ are two complements and both have to be accusative (no recipient --> 2x accusative). You can’t leave either out without leaving an open question.

Warning:

In informal language the obvious part (in this case „uns“) will often be left out, and the person will often be put in the dative case. Technically, however, this goes against the official grammar rules of German

kosten + double accusative

Example:

• „Der Apfel kostet mich einen Euro.“

„Mich“ and „einen Euro“ are two accusative objects. Once again, there’s no recipient, and you can’t leave either out without leaving a question open

Warning:

When the speaker is the one doing the buying, the person will often be left out. In some regions, the person is in the dative case. Both of these options are common, but technically go against official grammar rules

nennen + double accusative

Example:

• „Er nennt mich einen Idioten.“

„Mich“ and „einen Idioten“ are two accusative complements.

Warning:

In this case, you can’t leave out either object because it’s never obvious!

In informal language indirect speech (= Subjunctive 1) will often be used

• „Er sagt, dass ich ein Idiot sei.“