Accusative: Animate or Not?

The accusative marks the direct object: Mám, Vidím, Hľadám, Poznám + accusative. For masculine nouns it matters whether the noun is alive:

• animate nouns (people, animals) take the genitive-like ending -a: brat → Poznáš môjho brata? pes → Máme psa.
• masculine nouns ending in -a (kolega, turista, starosta) take -u: Hľadám nového kolegu.
• inanimate nouns do not change: Kúpil som nový kufor.

The adjective shows it too: nového kolegu but nový stôl. Feminine nouns in -a take -u (kamarátku), neuter nouns keep the base form (dieťa, miesto). In the plural, male persons take -ov (chlapcov, žiakov), and animals do too after dvoch, troch (dvoch medveďov). Things keep the nominative plural (stromy).