accusativ

The accusativ, or accusative case, is a grammatical case used in many languages to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The direct object is the noun phrase that directly receives the action of the verb.

In languages with overt case systems, the accusative is distinct from the nominative (the subject) and other cases. The accusative often appears with transitive verbs and can influence adjectives and determiners that modify the noun. Some languages also employ the accusative in certain prepositional phrases or to express motion toward a goal, depending on the construction.

Examples illustrate how the accusative operates across languages. In German, for instance, the sentence Ich sehe den Mann uses den Mann as the masculine singular accusative direct object. In languages with more limited morphology, such as English, nouns do not change form for the accusative, but pronouns do (e.g., I versus me). In Latin, Puella rosam amat shows the direct object rosam in the accusative singular. Other languages, like Russian, use the accusative form for objects as well, with endings that can vary by gender, number, and animacy.

Etymology and usage notes emphasize that the term accusativ derives from Latin accusativus, meaning “that which is accused,” reflecting its role as the affected object of an action. The exact realization of the accusative, its markers, and its interactions with prepositions or verb types vary by language family, but its core function as the mark of a direct object is widely shared.