Capitalization Rules for Nouns in the German Language Made Simple

In most cases German capitalization rules are very similar to English. There are, however, some important differences which are worth noting for students of the German language the most important of which is that all nouns are capitalized. .

The 1996 reforms of the German language sought to standardize written German and thus introduced some changes to standard rules.

Below are some important rules that need to be observed when writing in the German Language.

Capitalization of Nouns

Unlike English all nouns in written German are capitalized.  In the 17th and 18th centuries all nouns were capitalised in English too but that was dispensed with several hundred years ago.

As in English, proper names are capitalized too.

Capitalization of Pronouns

"Ich" the first person singular pronoun for "I" in German is only capitalized when it appears at the beginning of a sentence otherwise it is in lower case.

Sie, the formal version of "you" is always capitalized. So too are the possessive pronouns Ihnen and Ihr. However, the reflexive pronoun "sich" is not capitalized.

Informal pronouns that were capitalized in the past are no longer capitalized. This rule applies to "du, dich and dir". It is now the accepted standard that these are not always capitalized but it is not always observed in informal correspondence.

Capitalization of Adjectives

Adjectives describing nationality, ethnicity and religion are not capitalized in German as they are in English. For example: "das deutsche Auto" and "ein deutsches Bier."

Exceptions to this rule include adjectives that are part of an official title, species name, holiday or common expression. For example: "Der Zweite Weltkrieg" und "der Heilige Abend"

Nominalized adjectives are usually capitalized like nouns. For example "Die Nächste, bitte!" meaning the next person.

Capitalization of Compound Words

Compound words are generally joined into one word but some that were together have now been separated. For example:

Radfahren      >>    Rad fahren to ride a bicycle
Eislaufen       >>      Eis laufen to ice skate


Useful Links
Capitalization of Words in German
German Capitalization and Punctuation

German Prepositions Always Followed By the Accusative Case with Practice Sentences

There are some specific prepositions in the German language that are always followed by the accusative case. This means that the object that these prepositions take is in the accusative case. Or put another way the noun or pronoun that follows these prepositions must be in the accusative case along with any accompanying adjectives.  

English and German are different in their treatment of prepositions. In English, a preposition does not affect the word or phrase it introduces. However, in German a noun or pronoun must be put into the correct case after a preposition. For this reason it is important to learn prepositions along with the appropriate case.  As a learning aid try this mnemonic "O Fudge" [ohne, für, um, durch, gegen]. Or you could try to memorise the rhyme "Durch-für-gegen-ohne-um, Deutsch zu lernen ist nicht dumm."

There are also some prepositions often referred to as two-way prepositions that can take either case depending on the context and how they are being used. These will be discussed in a future post so for now let's concentrate on only those prepositions that are always followed by the accusative case.  

Always Accusative Case
bis	until
durch	through, by
für	for
gegen	against, for
ohne	without
um	around, for, round about, at (time)
wider	against, contrary to

Let's review definite and indefinite articles and personal pronouns and possessive pronouns in the accusative case in German first as these need to be known thoroughly.

The Definite Article
	nominative	accusative
Masculine	der	den
Neuter	das	das
Feminine	die	die
Plural	die	die

The Indefinite Article
	nominative	accusative
Masculine	ein	einen
Neuter	ein	ein
Feminine	eine	eine

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

	1st pers.	2nd pers.	3rd person			1st pers.	2nd pers.	3rd pers.
nominative	ich	du	er	sie	es	wir	ihr	sie
accusative	mich	dich	ihn	sie	es	uns	euch	sie

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

Accusative Case
	ich	du	er	sie	es	wir	ihr	sie
Masculine	meinen	deinen	seinen	ihren	seinen	unseren	euren	ihren
Neuter	mein	dein	sein	ihr	sein	unser	euer	ihr
Feminine & Plural	meine	deine	seine	ihre	seine	unsere	eure	ihre

Now let's take a look at these prepositions which are followed by an accusative object one-by-one with some example sentences that illustrate how these are used in practice.

bis (until)

• Bis nächstes Mal.   Until next time.
• Ich bleibe bis nächsten Dienstag.   I will stay until Tuesday.

As bis requires the accusative case, das Mal  as a neuter noun needs the neuter form of the adjective being used hence nächstes is needed.

Likewise, der Dienstag  as a masculine noun needs the adjective to take a masculine ending hence nächsten is needed.

NB Bis is often combined with another preposition in which case it takes the case of the second preposition,  For example:

Das muss bis zum nächsten Mal warten.   That'll have to wait till next time.

durch (through, by)

• Ich schaue durch das Fenster.   I look through the window. or I am looking through the window.
• Durch seine Bemühungen wurden alle gerettet.   Everyone was saved through his efforts.
• Ich bin durch die ganze Welt gereist.   I have travelled all over the world.

für (for)

• Es ist für dich.   It's for you.
• Danke für deinen Anruf.   Thanks for your call
• Das ist für ihn sehr wichtig.   That is very important to him.

dich is the accusative pronoun meaning you (singular and informal)

As für requires the accusative case, der Anruf  as a masculine noun needs to declined with the correct form of the possessive pronoun being used hence deinen (singular and informal meaning your) is needed.

ihn is the accusative pronoun meaning him

NB  The expression "Was für ..." meaning "What kind of" does not follow this rule. For instance
Was für ein Zufall!   What a coincidence!
Was für ein Tag!       What a day!

gegen (against, for)

• Ich mag Ralf. Was hast du denn gegen ihn?   I like Ralf. What do you have against him?
• Stelle es gegen die Mauer!   Put it against the wall.
• Ich bin gegen den Plan.   I am against the plan.
• Haben Sie etwas gegen Kopfschmerzen?   Do you have anything for a headache.
• Die Bäume hoben sich schemenhaft gegen den Himmel ab.   The trees were silhouetted against the sky.
• Deshalb stimmen wir gegen den Bericht.   That is why we are voting against the report.

ihn is the accusative pronoun meaning him

As the noun die Mauer is feminine and requires the accusative case after gegen, there is no change to the definite article die from the nominative form. 

As the noun der Plan is masculine and requires the accusative case after gegen, the definite article changes from der to den in the accusative case. 

As the noun der Himmel is masculine and requires the accusative case after gegen, the definite article changes from der to den in the accusative case. 

As the noun der Bericht is masculine and requires the accusative case after gegen, the definite article changes from der to den in the accusative case. 

ohne (without)

• Ohne ihn geht's nicht.   It won't work without him.
• Er geht ohne mich nirgendwo hin.  He's not going anywhere without me.
• Ich kann nicht ohne dich leben.   I can't live without you.

ihn is the accusative pronoun meaning him.

mich is the accusative pronoun meaning me.

dich is the accusative pronoun meaning you (singular and informal).

Ohne Dich

um (around, round about, for; about, by (quantity), at (time))

• Mein Freund wohnt direkt hier um die Ecke.   My friend lives just around the corner.
• Es behandelt sich um dein Benehmen.   It's a question of your behaviour.
• Es fängt um neun Uhr an.   It begins at nine.
• Es ist um zehn Euros billiger.   It is ten Euros cheaper.

As the noun die Ecke is feminine and requires the accusative case after um, there is no change to the definite article die from the nominative form. 

dein is the accusative pronoun meaning your (singular and informal).

wider (contrary to, against)

• Das geht mir wider die Natur.   That's against my nature.

As the noun die Natur is feminine and requires the accusative case after wider, there is no change to the definite article die from the nominative form.

 




Useful Links
Explanation of Different Cases in the German Language