der, den or dem?
The three cases introduced here in one overview — which job does the noun have?
- Subject → Nominativ: der Bus
- Direct object in the examples here → Akkusativ: den Bus
- After mit, zu, aus, bei, von → Dativ: dem Bus, der U-Bahn
Careful with der: it’s the masculine subject and the feminine Dativ. The Unit 8 overview has the full table.
| maskulin | feminin | neutrum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | der Bus | die U-Bahn | das Auto |
| Akkusativ | den Bus | die U-Bahn | das Auto |
| Dativ | dem Bus | der U-Bahn | dem Auto |