Ich lieb' den Frühling
I love the springtime – "Ich lieb den Frühling" by Simone Sommerland
Here in Germany, the gray days of winter are finally giving way to blue skies, sunshine, and slightly warmer temperatures – der Frühling (springtime) is finally on the way!
German children’s songs can be a fantastic resource for learning vocabulary related to a wide variety of topics, including die Jahreszeiten (the seasons) and das Wetter (the weather). In addition, this week’s featured song, “Ich lieb den Frühling”, gives us a chance to review how German’s accusative case works in a variety of situations.
Ich lieb’ den Frühling
I love the springtimeIch lieb’ den Sonnenschein
I love the sunshineIch lieb’ den Sommer
I love the summer
Notice how masculine nouns der Frühling, der Sonnenschein, and der Sommer take on the accusative definite article “den” when they are used as direct objects in a sentence.
Ich lieb’ den Sand, das Meer
I love the sand, the ocean
Masculine noun der Sand once again takes on “den” while used as a direct object, while the article for neutral noun das Meer remains unchanged.
Ich lieb’ die Herbstzeit
I love the fall time
Feminine noun die Herbszeit also retains its definite article “die” when used as a direct object.
In addition to being a cheerful Ohrwurm (earworm), the warm sunshine of “Ich lieb den Frühling” illuminates a key aspect of German’s accusative case: only masculine nouns see an article change in the accusative.