The dative: the indirect object and dative verbs
Meet the third German case: the forms dem, der, den, the person who receives something, and the verbs like helfen and danken that always take the dative.
The cases · Elementary · 25 min · 40 exercises · Goethe A2, High school, AP German
You know the nominative (the subject) and the accusative (the direct object). The dative (der Dativ) is the third case. Its main job is to mark the indirect object: the person who receives something or benefits from the action. English says I give the child an apple or I give an apple to the child. German needs no word for to: the article changes instead. Ich gebe dem Kind einen Apfel.
The definite article in three cases
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der Mann | die Frau | das Kind | die Kinder |
| Accusative | den Mann | die Frau | das Kind | die Kinder |
| Dative | dem Mann | der Frau | dem Kind | den Kindern |
Ein, kein and the possessives in the dative
| Gender | der-word | ein | kein | mein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | dem Vater | einem Vater | keinem Vater | meinem Vater |
| Feminine | der Tante | einer Tante | keiner Tante | meiner Tante |
| Neuter | dem Kind | einem Kind | keinem Kind | meinem Kind |
| Plural | den Kindern | Kindern (no article) | keinen Kindern | meinen Kindern |
The dative plural adds -n to the noun
In the dative plural the article is den and the noun itself takes an extra -n: die Kinder, den Kindern. Die Freunde, den Freunden. Die Schüler, den Schülern. No extra -n if the plural already ends in -n or in -s: den Frauen, den Autos. All the possessives (dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer) take the endings of mein: -em, -er, -em, -en.
The indirect object
Many verbs have two objects: a thing (accusative) and a person who receives it (dative). Ich gebe dem Kind einen Apfel. Sie schenkt ihrer Mutter Blumen. Typical verbs: geben, schenken, zeigen, bringen, kaufen, schicken, erklären, erzählen. The question word for the dative is wem (to whom): Wem gibst du den Apfel? Compare wer (nominative), wen (accusative), wem (dative).
With two noun objects: dative first
When both objects are nouns, the dative comes before the accusative: Ich gebe dem Kind (dative) einen Apfel (accusative). Der Lehrer erklärt den Schülern die Aufgabe. Think: person first, thing second.
Dative verbs
A small group of verbs takes only one object, and that object is in the dative even though English uses a plain direct object: helfen, danken, gefallen, gehören, schmecken, antworten, gratulieren, passen. Ich helfe dem Mann (not den Mann). Careful with gefallen: the thing you like is the subject and the person is in the dative. Der Film gefällt dem Kind = The child likes the movie.
The most common dative verbs
| Verb | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| helfen (er hilft) | to help | Ich helfe der Nachbarin. |
| danken | to thank | Wir danken dem Lehrer. |
| gefallen (es gefällt) | to be pleasing to (to like) | Der Film gefällt den Kindern. |
| gehören | to belong to | Das Fahrrad gehört meinem Bruder. |
| schmecken | to taste good to | Die Suppe schmeckt dem Gast. |
| antworten | to answer | Der Schüler antwortet der Lehrerin. |
| gratulieren | to congratulate | Wir gratulieren der Oma. |
| passen | to fit, to suit | Die Jacke passt dem Kind nicht. |
Examples
- Wem gehört der Rucksack?Who does the backpack belong to?wem asks for the dative
- Der Rucksack gehört einem Schüler.The backpack belongs to a student.masculine dative: einem
- Die Mutter kauft den Kindern ein Eis.The mother buys the children an ice cream.dative plural: den + -n
- Ich zeige meiner Freundin die Stadt.I am showing my friend the city.feminine dative: meiner
- Wem schenkst du die Blumen?Who are you giving the flowers to?
- Herr Aydin erklärt den Schülern die Aufgabe.Mr. Aydin explains the exercise to the students.dative before accusative
The dative has its own signature letters: -m, -r, -m, -n (dem, der, dem, den). The same letters appear on every article word: einem, meiner, keinem, unseren. And the question words follow the masculine article: der / wer, den / wen, dem / wem.
Three mistakes English speakers make. First, do not translate to: not Ich gebe den Apfel zu dem Kind, but Ich gebe dem Kind den Apfel. Second, after helfen, danken, antworten and the other dative verbs, the accusative is wrong even though English has a direct object: Ich helfe dem Vater, never den Vater. Third, do not forget the -n on the plural noun: in Ich helfe den Kindern, the -n is part of the dative.
The exercises of this lesson
40 corrected exercises in three sessions (discovery, practice, challenge): multiple choice (5), fill in the gap (11), find the mistake (5), word order (1), rewrite (5), translation (6), gap text (3), matching (2), sorting (2). Every answer is corrected immediately, with the rule that applies.