A Case in Point -Accusative

gastvalo
February 3, 2015

jason☺
February 8, 2015
5 days and no answer. I saw the question, but I wasn't sure I wanted to try an answer to it, but here goes from what I've learned so far (or think I have learned).
Ich frage einen Mann nach dem
Weg. - I ask a man for directions
-nach is a preposition that always takes dative. See the post
here:
http://members.rocketlanguages.com/members/forum/german-grammar/examples-in-6-7
So let's simplify the phrase:
Ich frage einen Mann. - I ask a man
-einen Mann (Ich frage wer? whom? - the man). So it must be
acc.
So your question is why do we use einen here as accusative?
I found this also:
http://learn-german-easily.com/german-case-accusative
For the other phrases, we have to find the direct object (accusative) which functions as the receiver of the action of a transitive verb. In the examples below, the man is acted upon by the dog. This example is from
http://german.about.com/library/blcase_acc.htm
Der Hund beißt den Mann. The dog
bites the man.
Den Mann beißt der
Hund. The dog bites the man.
But in the phrases you posted, Lisa and Tom are not acted upon. Instead, they answer the dative question of to who:
Er schenkt Lisa einen Gutschein. - He
gives Lisa a voucher.
Steffi schreibt Tom einen Brief. - Steffi
writes Tom a letter.
Does that help? Let me know. I'll be glad to correct my answer.