Using the accusative with times and dates in German

Accusative Case in German (again)

We’ve already covered the accusative, but since it’s such an important topic, we’ll cover it again!

What is the Accusative?

The accusative case is used in German to mark the direct object of a sentence — the person or thing that is directly affected by the action of the verb.

Example:

• Ich sehe den Hund. (I see the dog) → den Hund is in the accusative case.

Accusative with Time and Date Expressions

German often uses the accusative for time expressions without a preposition. These are called adverbial accusatives. They answer questions like Wann? (When?) or Wie lange? (For how long?).

Examples:

• Ich arbeite den ganzen Tag. (I work the whole day.)
• Wir treffen uns nächsten Freitag. (We meet next Friday.)

Here, den ganzen Tag and nächsten Freitag are accusative, even though they are not direct objects.

Important distinction:

• With a preposition, the case depends on the preposition:

  • am Montag (on Monday → dative)
  • um drei Uhr (at 3 o’clock → accusative)
  • seit gestern (since yesterday → dative)
  • während des Urlaubs (during the holiday → genitive)

So: time expressions are not always accusative. They can also appear in dative or genitive, depending on the preposition. We'll get to that later.

Reflexive Verbs and the Accusative

Some verbs in German are reflexive, meaning they come with a reflexive pronoun. In many cases, this pronoun stands in the accusative.

Example:

• Wir treffen uns. (We meet [each other].) Here, uns is accusative, but it is not a free-standing direct object; it belongs to the reflexive verb sich treffen.

If you add a time expression:

• Wir treffen uns nächsten Freitag. Now you see two accusatives: uns (reflexive pronoun) and nächsten Freitag (time expression).

Articles in the Accusative

The definite articles change in the accusative case:

• Masculine: der → den
• Feminine: die → die (no change)
• Neuter: das → das (no change)
• Plural: die → die (no change)

Why is this important?

Using the correct case helps clarify who is doing what to whom, which is essential in German sentence structure. Recognizing time expressions in the accusative helps you say both when something happens and how long it lasts.

More Examples

• Ich sehe den Mann. (I see the man.) → direct object (accusative)
• Wir treffen uns nächsten Freitag. (We meet next Friday.) → reflexive pronoun + time expression (both accusative)
• Ich habe den Termin am Montag. (I have the appointment on Monday.) → direct object (accusative) + time expression with preposition (dative)
• Wir bleiben zwei Wochen. (We stay two weeks.) → duration in accusative
• Während des Urlaubs fahren wir nicht weg. (During the holiday we don’t go away.) → time expression in genitive