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German 2 Unit 3: The Dative Case

The dative case marks the indirect object, the person who receives something or benefits from an action. It also follows certain verbs and prepositions, so it appears in almost every German sentence beyond the basics.

Covers: Dative articles and ein-words, Dative personal pronouns, Indirect objects, Dative verbs, Dative prepositions and contractions, Order of direct and indirect objects, Dative idioms (Mir ist kalt)

Study guide

German has four cases, and by now you know the nominative (the subject) and the accusative (the direct object). The dative case usually marks the indirect object: the person to whom or for whom something is done. In Ich gebe dem Lehrer das Heft (I give the teacher the notebook), das Heft is the accusative thing being given and dem Lehrer is the dative receiver. A good question to find the dative is wem? (to whom?). Verbs of giving and communicating often take both objects: geben, schenken, schicken, zeigen, erklären, erzählen, bringen, kaufen and sagen.

The dative articles are dem (masculine), der (feminine), dem (neuter) and den (plural). Ein-words follow the same pattern with endings -em, -er, -em and -en: einem Mann, einer Frau, einem Kind, meinen Freunden. Kein and the possessives work the same way: keinem, ihrer, unserem. There is one more rule: in the dative plural, the noun itself adds -n if it does not already end in -n or -s. So die Kinder becomes den Kindern and die Freunde becomes den Freunden, but die Autos stays den Autos. Watch out that der is both the nominative masculine article and the dative feminine article; the gender of the noun tells you which one you are seeing.

The dative personal pronouns are mir (me), dir (you, informal), ihm (him, it), ihr (her), uns (us), euch (you all), ihnen (them) and Ihnen (you, formal). Compare them with the accusative: mich/mir, dich/dir, ihn/ihm, sie/ihr. Uns and euch are the same in both cases. A group of common verbs takes only a dative object, even though the English equivalent has a direct object: helfen (Ich helfe dir), danken (Wir danken Ihnen), antworten, gehören (Das Buch gehört mir), gefallen (Der Film gefällt mir), glauben (with a person), gratulieren, passen, schmecken and folgen. Gefallen is tricky: the thing liked is the subject, and the person who likes it is dative.

Nine common prepositions always take the dative: aus (out of, from), außer (except), bei (at, near, at someone's place), mit (with, by means of), nach (after, to a city or country), seit (since, for a period of time), von (from, of, by), zu (to a person or building) and gegenüber (across from). Many students memorize them to the tune of a familiar song. Several prepositions contract with dem or der: zu dem becomes zum, zu der becomes zur, bei dem becomes beim and von dem becomes vom. Seit with the present tense means something started in the past and is still going on: Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Deutsch (I have been learning German for two years).

When a sentence has both a dative and an accusative object, their order depends on whether they are nouns or pronouns. If both are nouns, dative comes before accusative: Ich schenke meiner Mutter eine Blume. If one is a pronoun, the pronoun comes first: Ich schenke sie meiner Mutter, or Ich schenke ihr eine Blume. If both are pronouns, accusative comes before dative: Ich schenke sie ihr. Finally, German uses the dative for many feelings and sensations where English uses a subject: Mir ist kalt (I am cold), Mir ist schlecht (I feel sick), Wie geht es dir? (How are you?) and Es tut mir leid (I am sorry).

Key ideas

• The dative marks the indirect object and answers the question wem? (to or for whom?).
• Dative articles are dem, der, dem, den, and ein-words end in -em, -er, -em, -en.
• Dative plural nouns add -n unless they already end in -n or -s.
• Verbs like helfen, danken, gefallen, gehören, antworten and schmecken take a dative object.
• Aus, außer, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu and gegenüber always take the dative.
• Two nouns: dative before accusative; two pronouns: accusative before dative; a pronoun always precedes a noun.
• Feelings and sensations often use a dative person: Mir ist kalt, Es tut mir leid.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Using the accusative with dative verbs, such as Ich helfe dich instead of Ich helfe dir.
• Forgetting the -n on dative plural nouns (mit den Kinder instead of mit den Kindern).
• Reading der as masculine when it is the dative feminine article.
• Reversing gefallen, as in Ich gefalle den Film instead of Der Film gefällt mir.
• Putting a noun before a pronoun, as in Ich gebe dem Mann es instead of Ich gebe es dem Mann.

Before the test, make sure you can

• Identify the indirect object in a sentence by asking wem?
• Give the dative article and ein-word ending for any gender and the plural.
• Add the dative plural -n where needed.
• Use the correct dative pronoun for each person.
• Use common dative verbs such as helfen, danken, gefallen and gehören correctly.
• Use the nine dative prepositions and their contractions.
• Order a dative and an accusative object correctly with nouns and pronouns.
• Express feelings and sensations with dative idioms.

Words to know

geben

to give

schenken

to give (as a gift)

schicken

to send

zeigen

to show

erklären

to explain

das Geschenk

gift

der Geburtstag

birthday

helfen

to help

danken

to thank

gefallen

to be pleasing to, to like

gehören

to belong to

antworten

to answer

schmecken

to taste (good)

passen

to fit, to suit

gratulieren

to congratulate

zum Arzt

to the doctor

zur Arbeit

to work

nach Hause

(to) home

zu Hause

at home

beim Bäcker

at the bakery

aus der Stadt

from the city

Sample practice questions

30 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.