Langvie / German grammar / The German dative object: mir, dir, Ihnen
The German dative object: mir, dir, Ihnen.
The dative case marks the indirect object of a sentence and answers the question wem. You will encounter it frequently when giving directions, thanking people, or offering help while traveling.
Verbs with two objects and the dative articles
Verbs like geben, schenken, zeigen, and bringen take two objects: the thing in the accusative and the person receiving it in the dative. The question word for the dative is wem. In the dative case, masculine and neuter articles change to dem, feminine becomes der, and the plural becomes den with an added n on the noun.
| Gender | Nominativ | Akkusativ | Dativ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | der | den | dem |
| Feminine | die | die | der |
| Neuter | das | das | dem |
| Plural | die | die | den ...-n |
- Der Mann zeigt der Frau den Weg.The man shows the woman the way.
- Ich gebe dem Busfahrer die Fahrkarte.I give the bus driver the ticket.
Verbs that take only a dative object
Several common German verbs connect directly to a single object in the dative case without an accusative object. Key dative verbs include helfen, danken, gehören, gefallen, schmecken, and antworten. The person or thing receiving the action must take the dative ending.
| Verb | Meaning | Required case |
|---|---|---|
| helfen | to help | Dativ |
| danken | to thank | Dativ |
| gehören | to belong to | Dativ |
| gefallen | to please, like | Dativ |
| schmecken | to taste good to | Dativ |
| antworten | to answer | Dativ |
- Ich helfe dem Mann an der Haltestelle.I help the man at the bus stop.
- Das Auto gehört der Frau.The car belongs to the woman.
Personal pronouns in the dative
Personal pronouns have unique forms in the dative case that replace nouns. These pronouns form central daily expressions such as Wie geht es dir?, Das gefällt mir, and Kann ich Ihnen helfen?.
| Nominativ | Akkusativ | Dativ |
|---|---|---|
| ich | mich | mir |
| du | dich | dir |
| er | ihn | ihm |
| sie | sie | ihr |
| es | es | ihm |
| wir | uns | uns |
| ihr | euch | euch |
| sie / Sie | sie / Sie | ihnen / Ihnen |
- Kann ich Ihnen helfen?Can I help you?
- Das Ticket gefällt mir sehr gut.I like the ticket very much.
Dative after prepositions versus dative objects
A noun in the dative after a preposition expresses a location or means of transport rather than a verb object. The dative form is the same, but the grammatical role in the sentence is adverbial.
- Ich fahre mit dem Bus zum Bahnhof.I travel by bus to the train station.
- Ich wohne in der Stadt.I live in the city.
Exceptions to remember
- Plural nouns in the dative take an extra n unless they already end in n or s. Ich zeige den Kindern den Weg.
- The formal pronoun Ihnen is always capitalized, unlike lowercase ihnen. Ich danke Ihnen für das Ticket.
- With gefallen, the liked object is the grammatical subject and the person takes the dative. Die Stadt gefällt mir gut.
Practice it in the course
This rule is chapter 29 of 31 in the A1 German course in Langvie, after wo and wohin in German: in, an, auf and before The German perfect tense with sein. In the app the chapter goes on with 8 exercises and a short spoken conversation with an AI partner, which opens with Guten Tag! Kann ich Ihnen helfen? Gehört der Koffer hier Ihnen?
Choose the right Dativ personal pronoun. Kannst du ___ bitte helfen? (mich / mir / ich)
mir. Helfen requires a dative pronoun, so ich becomes mir. Can you please help me?
Practice this rule in Langvie.
Chapter 29 of the A1 course, with exercises, cards and a conversation in German.