German accusative: den and einen

The idea

The accusative often marks a direct object: the person or thing directly affected by the action. For masculine nouns, der becomes den and ein becomes einen. Feminine die/eine and neuter das/ein remain the same as in the nominative.

Examples to say aloud

• Der Mann kauft einen Kaffee.
  The man buys a coffee.
• Ich sehe den Hund.
  I see the dog.
• Ich lese ein Buch.
  I am reading a book.

A common mistake

Subject and object can have different articles. In Der Mann sieht den Hund, Mann is the subject and Hund is the direct object.

Try it yourself

Complete: Ich sehe ___ Hund. (the)

Make your attempt, then open the explanation.

Keep practising

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