Den Akkusativ
In English, the nominative pronouns "he" and "she" change to "him" and "her" when the person is the direct object of a sentence, being acted on by a verb. For example:
| Nominative | Accusative |
|---|---|
he is very fluffy | I want to pet him |
she is very good at Tetris | it's hard to win against her |
In German, this change applies not only to pronouns but also to an equivalent of "the" (called the definite article): "der" changes to "den", when you're talking about doing something to a masculine noun.
This only happens with masculine nouns. "die" and "das" stay the same in accusative mode. That goes for the plural "die", too.
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | der | die | das |
Accusative | den | die | das |
ein words follow the same pattern, changing to einen in accusative only for masculine nouns. If it's a neuter or feminine noun, it always looks the same in accusative!
Some masculine nouns change form when used in any case other than the nominative, gaining a new -n or -en ending. You will often see phrases like den Prinzen, einen Herren, or deinen Studenten.