Brottin

ROADMAP · A2 · Fluent in everyday situations

Dativ: Artikel und Personalpronomen

A2Dative articles and pronouns
Ich gebe meiner Mutter einen Schal.

I give my mother a scarf.

EXPLANATION

Use Dativ for the indirect object: the receiver. After Dativ prepositions and many Dativ verbs, nouns and pronouns change form.

The Dativ shows the receiver, the person or thing that gets something, or the object after many Dativ verbs and Dativ prepositions. You also use Dativ with question word wem and with pronouns like mir, dir, ihm, ihr, uns, euch, ihnen, Ihnen.

STRUCTURE

Dativ verb + Dativ object

Many common verbs need Dativ because they focus on the receiver or target person.

  • Ich helfe dem Kollegen.I help the colleague.
  • Wir danken der Lehrerin.We thank the teacher.
  • Sie antwortet dem Kind.She answers the child.
Dativ preposition + Dativ

The article and, in the plural, sometimes the noun itself change after these prepositions.

  • mit dem Busby bus
  • bei einer Freundinat a friend's place
  • zu den Elternto the parents
Dativ noun/pronoun + Akkusativ object; pronoun order can change

With two objects, German prefers the Dativ noun before the Akkusativ noun, but pronouns often come earlier.

  • Ich gebe meiner Schwester das Handy.I give my sister the phone.
  • Ich gebe es ihr.I give it to her.
  • Der Kellner bringt uns die Karte.The waiter brings us the menu.

OVERVIEW

Dative articles and pronouns

TypeNominativDativExample
masculineder / eindem / einemdem Mann
femininedie / eineder / einerder Frau
neuterdas / eindem / einemdem Kind
pluraldieden + -nden Kindern
1st personichmirmir
2nd persondudirdir
3rd person masc./neut.er / esihmihm
3rd person fem.sieihrihr

COMMON MISTAKES

  • Ich helfe den Mann.

    Ich helfe dem Mann.

    helfen needs Dativ, not Akkusativ. The correct article for masculine Dativ is dem.

  • Er schreibt mich einen Brief.

    Er schreibt mir einen Brief.

    The receiver is the Dativ pronoun mir. mich is Akkusativ and cannot follow schreiben in this meaning.

  • Wir fahren mit den Zug.

    Wir fahren mit dem Zug.

    After mit you need Dativ. den Zug is Akkusativ, so the article is wrong.

  • Ich schenke ihn das Buch.

    Ich schenke ihm das Buch.

    With two objects, the receiver comes in Dativ. A form like ihn is Akkusativ and does not fit here.

USAGE NOTES

  • For masculine and neuter nouns, dem looks the same in singular Dativ. You must use the noun and context to know the gender.
  • Plural Dativ often adds -n to the noun: den Kindern, mit den Freunden. If the plural already ends in -n or -s, this extra -n may not appear.
  • When a sentence has two objects, the Dativ noun usually comes before the Akkusativ noun: Ich gebe der Frau das Ticket. But an Akkusativ pronoun often comes before the Dativ pronoun: Ich gebe es ihr.
  • Do not mix up wem and wen. wem asks for Dativ, wen asks for Akkusativ.

RELATED

PersonalpronomenSubject pronounsA1Bestimmter Artikel und GenusDefinite article and genderA1Akkusativ: Artikel und PronomenAkkusative object formsA1Verben mit DativVerbs with dativeA2
Open in the Roadmap