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Is this nominative case or accusative case?

Accusative vs. nominative case ambiguity?Should one necessarily learn, when a verb goes with a dative object and when with accusative one?The definition of Zusammenfassung: Understanding the cases and its repeated articlesCase confusion nominative-accusativewhat kind of case does the object in comparative sentence take?Why is the adjective ending of the accusative case used in this sentence after »als«?Why is Accusative used in one sentence, but Nominative in another, despite similar constructions?Why is the following example in the nominative instead of accusative?How should I choose between “Welcher” (Nominative) and “Welchen” (Accusative)Accusative with “gewohnt” and general patterns versus isolated locutions

3

If I make a sentence like:

Das ist meine Familie.

Is the sentence correct at first place? Is it a nominative case for Familie or is it accusative? It looks confusing to me because here the subject of the sentence comes after the ist so I am not sure about which case applies here. Generally, I find it difficult to determine the grammatical case when the verbs are sein and haben.

grammatical-case standard-german

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

Navjot Waraich

asked 7 hours ago

Navjot WaraichNavjot Waraich

1184

New contributor

Navjot Waraich is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

3

If I make a sentence like:

Das ist meine Familie.

Is the sentence correct at first place? Is it a nominative case for Familie or is it accusative? It looks confusing to me because here the subject of the sentence comes after the ist so I am not sure about which case applies here. Generally, I find it difficult to determine the grammatical case when the verbs are sein and haben.

grammatical-case standard-german

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

Navjot Waraich

asked 7 hours ago

Navjot WaraichNavjot Waraich

1184

New contributor

Navjot Waraich is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

If I make a sentence like:

Das ist meine Familie.

Is the sentence correct at first place? Is it a nominative case for Familie or is it accusative? It looks confusing to me because here the subject of the sentence comes after the ist so I am not sure about which case applies here. Generally, I find it difficult to determine the grammatical case when the verbs are sein and haben.

grammatical-case standard-german

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

Navjot Waraich

asked 7 hours ago

Navjot WaraichNavjot Waraich

1184

New contributor

Navjot Waraich is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

Navjot Waraich

asked 7 hours ago

Navjot WaraichNavjot Waraich

1184

New contributor

Navjot Waraich is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

edited 7 hours ago

Navjot Waraich

asked 7 hours ago

Navjot WaraichNavjot Waraich

1184

New contributor

Navjot Waraich is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 7 hours ago

Navjot WaraichNavjot Waraich

1184

New contributor

Navjot Waraich is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 7 hours ago

Navjot WaraichNavjot Waraich

1184

3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

4

Some verbs can be used as couplers (they are called copula in linguistic terms). In a narrow sense these are sein, werden, and bleiben. These verbs take a Prädikativ, which may be an "object" in the nominative case.

Das ist meine Familie.

Er wird nochmal Vater.

Ein Fehler bleibt ein Fehler.

The other common option is an adjective phrase as in

Diese Übung war recht einfach.

Other verbs may be sometimes used as couplers, too. For example

Er gilt als begabter Koch.

Diese Sache erweist sich als Glücksfall.

Du siehst in diesen Sachen aus wie deine Oma.

and some more. You can often spot that use by the comparative conjunctions als and wie.

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 5 hours ago

JankaJanka

31.9k22862

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  So, by your explanation it will be correct if I make a sentence as Ich bin ein Softwareentwickler instead of Ich bin einen Softwareentwickler?
  
  – Navjot Waraich
  1 hour ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  You have to use the nominative case, yes.
  
  – Janka
  1 hour ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

4

Yes, your sentence is correct. (apart from the capitalisation of "Familie")

"Something/someone is something/someone" the latter "something" can be considered an object in nominative, which is often called a "Subjektsprädikativ"

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

tofrotofro

43.5k145131

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  oops - Du warst 14 Sekunden schneller - auf BoardGameGeek würde es jetzt heißen "I was ninja-d"...
  
  – Volker Landgraf
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  So Das is object in the above sentence?
  
  – Navjot Waraich
  7 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Also, can we say that when we explain about the subject using sein and haben, then it is nominative case?
  
  – Navjot Waraich
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  "Das" is the subject. "meine Familie" is the Subjektsprädikativ.
  
  – tofro
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Nope to your second question. It's true for "sein" in many cases, but "haben" would ask for accusative.
  
  – tofro
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 1 more comment

2

It is Nominativ - you can ask "wer?" (who) - Wer ist das? Das ist meine Familie.

If the sentence was "Ich sehe meine Familie", it would be Akkustaiv, for you could ask "wen sehe ich?" (whom do I see?).

Unfortunately for foreign learners of German, the "meine Familie" looks the same in both cases.

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

Volker LandgrafVolker Landgraf

1,977121

add a comment | 

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4

Some verbs can be used as couplers (they are called copula in linguistic terms). In a narrow sense these are sein, werden, and bleiben. These verbs take a Prädikativ, which may be an "object" in the nominative case.

Das ist meine Familie.

Er wird nochmal Vater.

Ein Fehler bleibt ein Fehler.

The other common option is an adjective phrase as in

Diese Übung war recht einfach.

Other verbs may be sometimes used as couplers, too. For example

Er gilt als begabter Koch.

Diese Sache erweist sich als Glücksfall.

Du siehst in diesen Sachen aus wie deine Oma.

and some more. You can often spot that use by the comparative conjunctions als and wie.

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 5 hours ago

JankaJanka

31.9k22862

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  So, by your explanation it will be correct if I make a sentence as Ich bin ein Softwareentwickler instead of Ich bin einen Softwareentwickler?
  
  – Navjot Waraich
  1 hour ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  You have to use the nominative case, yes.
  
  – Janka
  1 hour ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

4

Some verbs can be used as couplers (they are called copula in linguistic terms). In a narrow sense these are sein, werden, and bleiben. These verbs take a Prädikativ, which may be an "object" in the nominative case.

Das ist meine Familie.

Er wird nochmal Vater.

Ein Fehler bleibt ein Fehler.

The other common option is an adjective phrase as in

Diese Übung war recht einfach.

Other verbs may be sometimes used as couplers, too. For example

Er gilt als begabter Koch.

Diese Sache erweist sich als Glücksfall.

Du siehst in diesen Sachen aus wie deine Oma.

and some more. You can often spot that use by the comparative conjunctions als and wie.

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 5 hours ago

JankaJanka

31.9k22862

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  So, by your explanation it will be correct if I make a sentence as Ich bin ein Softwareentwickler instead of Ich bin einen Softwareentwickler?
  
  – Navjot Waraich
  1 hour ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  You have to use the nominative case, yes.
  
  – Janka
  1 hour ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

Some verbs can be used as couplers (they are called copula in linguistic terms). In a narrow sense these are sein, werden, and bleiben. These verbs take a Prädikativ, which may be an "object" in the nominative case.

Das ist meine Familie.

Er wird nochmal Vater.

Ein Fehler bleibt ein Fehler.

The other common option is an adjective phrase as in

Diese Übung war recht einfach.

Other verbs may be sometimes used as couplers, too. For example

Er gilt als begabter Koch.

Diese Sache erweist sich als Glücksfall.

Du siehst in diesen Sachen aus wie deine Oma.

and some more. You can often spot that use by the comparative conjunctions als and wie.

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 5 hours ago

JankaJanka

31.9k22862

share|improve this answer

edited 3 hours ago

answered 5 hours ago

JankaJanka

31.9k22862

answered 5 hours ago

JankaJanka

31.9k22862

answered 5 hours ago

JankaJanka

31.9k22862

4

Yes, your sentence is correct. (apart from the capitalisation of "Familie")

"Something/someone is something/someone" the latter "something" can be considered an object in nominative, which is often called a "Subjektsprädikativ"

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

tofrotofro

43.5k145131

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  oops - Du warst 14 Sekunden schneller - auf BoardGameGeek würde es jetzt heißen "I was ninja-d"...
  
  – Volker Landgraf
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  So Das is object in the above sentence?
  
  – Navjot Waraich
  7 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Also, can we say that when we explain about the subject using sein and haben, then it is nominative case?
  
  – Navjot Waraich
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  "Das" is the subject. "meine Familie" is the Subjektsprädikativ.
  
  – tofro
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Nope to your second question. It's true for "sein" in many cases, but "haben" would ask for accusative.
  
  – tofro
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 1 more comment

4

Yes, your sentence is correct. (apart from the capitalisation of "Familie")

"Something/someone is something/someone" the latter "something" can be considered an object in nominative, which is often called a "Subjektsprädikativ"

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

tofrotofro

43.5k145131

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  oops - Du warst 14 Sekunden schneller - auf BoardGameGeek würde es jetzt heißen "I was ninja-d"...
  
  – Volker Landgraf
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  So Das is object in the above sentence?
  
  – Navjot Waraich
  7 hours ago
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Also, can we say that when we explain about the subject using sein and haben, then it is nominative case?
  
  – Navjot Waraich
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  "Das" is the subject. "meine Familie" is the Subjektsprädikativ.
  
  – tofro
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Nope to your second question. It's true for "sein" in many cases, but "haben" would ask for accusative.
  
  – tofro
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 1 more comment

Yes, your sentence is correct. (apart from the capitalisation of "Familie")

"Something/someone is something/someone" the latter "something" can be considered an object in nominative, which is often called a "Subjektsprädikativ"

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

tofrotofro

43.5k145131

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

tofrotofro

43.5k145131

answered 7 hours ago

tofrotofro

43.5k145131

answered 7 hours ago

tofrotofro

43.5k145131

2

It is Nominativ - you can ask "wer?" (who) - Wer ist das? Das ist meine Familie.

If the sentence was "Ich sehe meine Familie", it would be Akkustaiv, for you could ask "wen sehe ich?" (whom do I see?).

Unfortunately for foreign learners of German, the "meine Familie" looks the same in both cases.

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

Volker LandgrafVolker Landgraf

1,977121

add a comment | 

2

It is Nominativ - you can ask "wer?" (who) - Wer ist das? Das ist meine Familie.

If the sentence was "Ich sehe meine Familie", it would be Akkustaiv, for you could ask "wen sehe ich?" (whom do I see?).

Unfortunately for foreign learners of German, the "meine Familie" looks the same in both cases.

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

Volker LandgrafVolker Landgraf

1,977121

add a comment | 

It is Nominativ - you can ask "wer?" (who) - Wer ist das? Das ist meine Familie.

If the sentence was "Ich sehe meine Familie", it would be Akkustaiv, for you could ask "wen sehe ich?" (whom do I see?).

Unfortunately for foreign learners of German, the "meine Familie" looks the same in both cases.

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

Volker LandgrafVolker Landgraf

1,977121

share|improve this answer

answered 7 hours ago

Volker LandgrafVolker Landgraf

1,977121

answered 7 hours ago

Volker LandgrafVolker Landgraf

1,977121

answered 7 hours ago

Volker LandgrafVolker Landgraf

1,977121