Hallo!

So I thought that maybe we have people here who can help me with this:

I’m having a lot of trouble understanding when to use Dativ vs Akkusativ in German. I understand that specific prepositions require specific cases, but in general I often find myself applying the wrong case in a sentence.

In some sentences it is quite clear:

Ich habe den Stift gekauft. (Pen being the direct object that is being bought)

But there are cases like this:

Ich schlafe in meinem auto in meiner pause (I know the order is wrong, but the cases seem to stay as they are even if you change the order)

Here I would have thought that the car is the direct object. I struggle with this a lot and often apply akkusativ case wrongly.

I would appreciate if someone could help me with understanding this better. For example: Why is the car not the direct object in the above example?

  • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
    10·
    6 days ago

    Think in English a bit. Would you sleep a car? Not really, right? The verb is intransitive, you don’t need a direct object. And if you really want to use one, you’d say what you slept - a nap, a beauty sleep, etc.

    German “schlafen” is the same deal, it requires no direct object. And if you were to force one, you’d end with something like “ich schlafe meinen Schönheitsschlaf” (I sleep my beauty sleep) - note how the accusative is there.

    So the role of that “in meinem Auto” (in my car) is something else: it’s an optional complement telling you where that action happens. German typically handles this through prepositional phrases (Präpositionalphrase), so the preposition dictates which case you need to use:

    • some ask for the dative; e.g. “mit” (with), “bei” (by), “von” (from)…
    • some ask for accusative; e.g. “für” (for), “gegen” (against), “ohne” (without)…
    • some allow either; e.g. “über” (over), “neben” (near), “in” (in).

    When the preposition allows either, typically you use the accusative when the subject is changing locations. For example:

    • ich laufe in den Wald (I run towards the woods; like, I’m running and I reach the woods)
    • ich laufe im [=in+dem] Wald (I run in the woods; like, I’m just jogging there)
    • LazycogOPMA
      6·
      6 days ago

      That example about “sleep a car” and the forest running made it crystal clear to me what’s going on, thank you!

      Also I think intransitive verb is the term I really needed. This helps tremendously.

      Thank you for taking time to explain it to me!