Welcome back to the engaging and insightful Learn German with LearnningTree series. In our previous blog post, we studied the accusative case in German grammar, exploring its importance and usage in constructing meaningful sentences. Building upon that foundation, today's focus shifts towards the dative case, another fundamental aspect of the German language that plays a crucial role in conveying relationships and nuances within sentences.
Stay tuned as we unravel the mysteries of the dative case and unlock a deeper understanding of the German language.
LIST OF CONTENTS
Dative Case
What do the verbs "help," "give," "write," and "send" have in common?
They’re all tasks we perform in our jobs, right?
And here’s a hint: these actions typically involve another person besides ourselves i.e. things that have a recipient!
The dative case( Dativ in German) is a grammatical case used to indicate the indirect object of a verb—essentially, the recipient of an action.
Before we learn dative, let's recall the good old accusative first.
We use it with direct objects
It only changes in masculine singular
We use it with verbs like "to see", "to take", "to order", "to eat" , etc.
der/ein Mann | den/einen Mann |
die/eine Frau | die/eine Frau |
das/ein Kind | das/ein Kind |
die Kinder/ - Kinder | die Kinder/ - Kinder |
Okay, now the dative where it's a little more tricky:
| Dative | Accusative |
Ich zeige I show | dem Mann | den Supermarkt. |
Ich zeige I show | der Frau | die Buchhandlung. |
Ich zeige I show | dem Kind | das Kino. |
Ich zeige I show | den Kindern | die Museen. |
In German, when you use a verb that takes both a direct object (accusative) and an indirect object (dative), the two cases are used together.
Dative Case: This indicates the indirect object—the person or thing receiving the action.
Accusative Case: This indicates the direct object—the thing that is being acted upon.
Examples:
Ich zeige dem Mann den Supermarkt.
Translation: I show the man the supermarket.
Dative: dem Mann (the man) – the recipient of the action.
Accusative: den Supermarkt (the supermarket) – the thing being shown.
Ich zeige der Frau die Buchhandlung.
Translation: I show the woman the bookstore.
Dative: der Frau (the woman) – the recipient.
Accusative: die Buchhandlung (the bookstore) – the thing being shown.
Ich zeige dem Kind das Kino.
Translation: I show the child the cinema.
Dative: dem Kind (the child) – the recipient.
Accusative: das Kino (the cinema) – the thing being shown.
Ich zeige den Kindern die Museen.
Translation: I show the children the museums.
Dative: den Kindern (the children) – the recipients.
Accusative: die Museen (the museums) – the things being shown.
Key Points:
The dative case changes the article (e.g., "der" to "dem" for masculine, "die" to "der" for feminine, and "die" to "den" for plural).
The accusative case also changes the article in some situations (e.g., "der" to "den" for masculine).
The verb "zeigen" (to show) requires both an indirect object (the person being shown something) and a direct object (the thing being shown).
Dative Masculine
Like the accusative, there are recurring letters that will help you get all your dative declensions right. Let's look at a little trick for that. M R M N
Declensions in dative
Definite | Indefinite/Negation | Possessive |
dem | (k)einem | meinem |
der | (k)einer | meiner |
dem | (k)einem | meinem |
den | keinen | meinen |
M R M N... looks a bit like MR. MaN! Maybe that can help you remember :)
Dative Verbs
Do you know how confusing the sentence I'm hot. is in English?
In German, because of the wonderful dative, that expression would never be misunderstood.
Ich bin heiß.
Meaning: I'm hot (looking hot/attractive).
Mir ist heiß.
Meaning: I'm hot (warm).
The meaning of the second sentence can be understood as "It feels hot to me." In German, the dative case is used for indirect objects, which is often translated to English as "to me/you/her/...". However, it's important to note that this is not always the rule, and the reason for this can sometimes be unclear.
Declensions can be daunting, and distinguishing between accusative and dative cases can be particularly challenging.
If you are not one for grammar concepts, don't worry! We have a list here of the top 10 most common verbs that use dative in German!
gefallen → Das gefällt mir. (I like that.)
helfen → Sie hilft ihm. (She helps him.)
schmecken → Pizza schmeckt ihr nicht. (She doesn't like the taste of pizza.)
glauben → Sie glaubt ihm nicht. (She doesn't believe him.)
geben → Er hat ihr einen Goldring gegeben. (He gave her a gold ring.)
gehören → Das gehört mir. (That belongs to me.)
weh tun → Mir tun die Augen weh. (My eyes hurt.)
danken → Ich danke dir für alles. (I thank you for everything.)
passieren → Das passiert mir immer. (That always happens to me.)
fehlen → Mir fehlen die Wörter. (I have no words.)
Remember to use the dative with these verbs and you will avoid some of the most common mistakes.
Most Common Mistakes observed are as follows:
Overview: all singular personal pronouns
Nominative | Accusative | Dative |
ich | mich | mir |
du | dich | dir |
er | ihn | ihm |
sie | sie | ihr |
es | es | ihm |
Dative Constructions
When talking about (subjective) feelings or opinions, we like to use certain dative constructions such as Mir ist kalt(I'm cold). In this case, we use this because we want to express our personal feeling in regards to the temperature. There are other cool dative constructions like this. Check it out!
1.Ich finde/denke, Kochen ist unterhaltsam. → Kochen macht mir Spaß.
Translation: I find/think cooking is entertaining. → Cooking is fun for me.
Explanation: Here, "Spaß" (fun) is expressed using the dative "mir." This construction indicates that cooking brings joy or enjoyment to the speaker, focusing on their personal experience.
2. Ich finde/denke, Pizza ist lecker. → Pizza schmeckt mir.
Translation: I find/think pizza is delicious. → Pizza tastes good to me.
Explanation: In this case, "schmecken" (to taste) also uses the dative case. "Mir" indicates that the speaker enjoys the taste of pizza, highlighting their subjective opinion about its flavor.
3. Ich finde/denke, Deutsch ist super. → Deutsch gefällt mir.
Translation: I find/think German is great. → I like German.
Explanation: The verb "gefallen" (to please) requires the dative. "Mir" shows that German is pleasing to the speaker, again emphasizing their personal opinion or preference.
These are way shorter, Useful, right? These dative constructions are used all the time. Take a closer look:
The sentences should be translated as:
Cooking is fun.
I like pizza.
I like German.
But what we are literally saying is:
*Cooking makes fun to me.
*Pizza tastes to me.
*German pleases to me.
Avoid funny mistakes!
Ich bin kalt. → I'm a cold person.
Mir ist kalt. → I am/feel cold.
Ich bin schlecht. → I'm bad/a bad person.
Mir ist schlecht. → I feel bad/sick.
Ich tut der Kopf weh. → doesn't exist
Mir tut der Kopf weh. → My head hurts.
Note: Did you notice the verb in those sentences? The subject in the dative sentences is es (sometimes only implicitly), not the person in question. We also have "dummy subjects" in English. Yes, this is what linguists call them!
It rains every day.
"It" doesn't really mean anything, but it is the subject of the sentence and therefore we need the -s in the verb → the he/she/it-conjugation.
When you start your sentence with mir/dir/ihr/... , make sure the verb is conjugated in the third person singular, the er/sie/es-conjugation.
Ist dir kalt? (Not: Bist dir kalt?)
Mir ist etwas passiert. (Not: Mir bin etwas passiert.)
Dative Pronouns: Plural
Before learning plural pronouns ,here are the singular dative pronouns : mir, dir, ihm, ihr
Plural pronouns:
We use the dative for indirect objects:
Ich habe ihnen eine E-mail geschickt.
I sent them an e-mail.
We use them with dative verbs like: helfen, gefallen, passieren.
Sie hilft uns.
She helps us.
After the dative prepositions: bei, mit, seit, aus, zu, nach, von.
Ich komme mit euch.
I'll come with you (plural).
Here's an overview of all plural personal pronouns:
Nominative | Accusative | Dative |
wir | uns | uns |
ihr | euch | euch |
sie | sie | ihnen |
Reflexive pronouns in the dative
Reflexive pronouns in German refer back to the subject of the sentence and are used when the subject and the object are the same. Reflexive pronouns appear very similar to accusative pronouns.
Accusative | Reflexive |
Siehst du mich? | Ich dusche mich. |
Ich sehe dich. | Du duschst dich. |
Ich sehe ihn/sie. | Er duscht sich. |
Siehst du uns? | Wir duschen uns. |
Ich sehe euch. | Ihr duscht euch. |
Ich sehe sie. | Sie duschen sich. |
BUT ⇒ If there are two objects in the sentence, we use the reflexive pronoun with the dative.
Check out the reflexive dative pronouns! Again, no surprises here:
Dative | Reflexive |
Hilfst du mir? | Ich wasche mir die Haare. |
Ich helfe dir. | Du wäschst dir die Haare. |
Ich helfe ihm/ihr. | Er wäscht sich die Haare. |
Hilfst du uns? | Wir waschen uns die Haare. |
Ich helfe euch. | Ihr wascht euch die Haare. |
Ich helfe ihnen. | Sie waschen sich die Haare. |
What would happen if I said Sie wäscht ihm die Haare?
That would mean she washes his hair, not her own.
Dative reflexive pronouns are essential for indicating actions that a subject performs on themselves. They help clarify who is receiving the action in a reflexive construction.
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