Ich hörte jemand meinen Namen rufen.

Sentence Discussions German
#1
English Translation

I heard someone calling my name.

are “Ich hörte jemand meinen Namen rufen.” and “Ich hörte jemanden meinen Namen rufen.” both correct? Why is this sentence with “jemand”?

#2

I think both are correct.

I’d say which one you use is just a matter of personal preference or in which region of Germany you grew up.

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#3

But I cannot find this usage “hören + Nominativ” in Duden. Is this expression umgangsprachlich?

#4

I’m not sure what you mean.

This sentence is perfectly fine German, not colloquialism.

To get the Nominativ, you ask: “Who heard? / Wer hörte?” Answer: I heard. Therefore, the Nominativ is I / Ich.

The get the Akkusativ, you ask: “Whom did the Nominativ hear? / Wen hörte ich?” Answer: jemand/jemanden.

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#6

“jemand” is nominative, and “jemanden” is accusative. But the twist here is that “jemand” is also a valid form for the accusative (and dative).

Quoting wiktionary (jemand - Wiktionary, the free dictionary):

Jemand may or may not take the case endings -em (dative) and -en (accusative). Thus: “Ich suche jemand ” and “Ich suche jemanden ” are both correct translations of “I’m looking for somebody.” The latter is somewhat more common (at least in writing).

See also the declension table there.

I would still prefer “jemanden” here, though.

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