When stepping into a fantasy world, you need to establish who you are playing as. In German, use the particle als to assign roles, functions, or identities.
| as (in the role of) | als |
The key rule for als is case agreement. The noun phrase following als must be in the exact same case as the person or thing it describes.
Nominative Agreement
If the role describes the subject of the sentence, the noun after als is in the Nominative case.
| The group disguises themselves as elves. | Die Gruppe verkleidet sich als Elfen. |
| As a brave warrior, he searches for the equipment. | Als mutiger Krieger sucht er die Ausrüstung. |
Notice in the second example that mutiger Krieger (brave warrior) matches the Nominative case of the subject er (he).
Accusative Agreement
If the role describes a direct object, the noun after als is in the Accusative case.
| I see the mage as my enemy. | Ich sehe den Magier als meinen Feind. |
Because den Magier is the direct object (Accusative), the role following als (meinen Feind) also takes the masculine Accusative ending.
Dative Agreement
If the role describes a Dative object, the noun after als must also be in the Dative case.
| We trust the dwarf as our healer. | Wir vertrauen dem Zwerg als unserem Heiler. |
The verb vertrauen (to trust) requires the Dative dem Zwerg. To maintain agreement, the role becomes unserem Heiler, taking the masculine Dative ending -em.
