What is the Nominative case in German?

The Nominative is the subject of the sentence — the person or thing doing the action. It is also the dictionary form of a noun, so it is the basic form you look up in a dictionary.

How do German articles look in the Nominative case?

In the Nominative, the articles are der (masculine), die (feminine), das (neuter), and die for plural. The indefinite articles are ein (masculine/neuter) and eine (feminine), with no indefinite plural article.

Why is both sides of a sentence in Nominative with "sein"?

The verb sein (“to be”) works like an equals sign, linking two things rather than showing an action done to an object. That is why both parts are in Nominative , for example: Das ist er (“That is he”).

Nominative Case — The Subject 👑

The Nominative case is the base form of a noun and represents the subject of the sentence—the person or thing performing the action. It is the form you find in dictionaries: der Mann, die Frau, das Kind. Use it after the verb 'sein' (to be).

Infographic defining the German Nominative Case as the subject of the sentence with article examples.

German has four cases: Nominative, Accusative, Dative, and Genitive.
Today we start with the easiest one: The Nominative.

What is it? 🤷‍♂️

The Nominative is the Subject of the sentence. It is the person or thing that is doing the action.
It is also the "default" state of a noun. If you look up a word in the dictionary, it is in Nominative.

Der Mann schläft. (The man sleeps).

Die Frau lacht. (The woman laughs).

Das Kind spielt. (The child plays).

Here, the man, the woman, and the child are the stars. They are the subjects.

The Articles in Nominative 📋

This is your baseline table.

Gender	Definite (The)	Indefinite (A/An)
Masculine	der Mann	ein Mann
Feminine	die Frau	eine Frau
Neuter	das Kind	ein Kind
Plural	die Kinder	- Kinder

The Special Case: "Sein" (To Be) 🪞

The verb sein (to be) acts like an equals sign (=).
In specific grammar terms, it doesn't have an "Object." It just links two things together.
Therefore, BOTH SIDES of the sentence are in Nominative.

Er ist ein guter Freund. (He = A good friend).
Das ist der Tisch. (That = The table).

[!WARNING]
Many beginners think: "I am seeing him" -> Ich sehe ihn (Accusative). So "It is him" -> Es ist ihn? NO!
"It is he" (technically correct in old English too!).

Das ist er. (Nominative).

Personal Pronouns (Nominative)

You know these already.

ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, sie

When do I NOT use it?

As soon as something is being acted upon.

Der Mann isst den Apfel.
The man is Nominative (Subject).
The apple is NOT doing anything. It is being eaten. So it changes to Accusative.

Fun Fact 🤓

In English, we actually still have Case markers too!
Look at pronouns:

I see him. (Subject / Nominative).
He sees me. (Object / Accusative).
You would never say "Me sees he." That sounds crazy.
German just applies this logic to nouns too (Der Mann vs Den Mann), not just pronouns.