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German grammar A2: elementary

The dative completed

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Contents · A2
  1. The present: more verbs that change their vowel
  2. The past
  3. Reflexive verbs
  4. Polite requests: the Konjunktiv II
  5. Articles and other words before the noun
  6. The dative completed
    1. Asking with a preposition, saying whose: wem, wen, von + dative
  7. Pronouns
  8. Prepositions
  9. Adjectives
  10. Linking sentences

In this part, you will learn to say who you give something to, who you help and what someone misses.

  1. Asking with a preposition, saying whose: wem, wen, von + dative

Dative pronouns and verbs with the dative

Personal pronouns have their own dative forms, and several frequent verbs take the person in the dative.

  • Ich rufe meine Oma an und frage, wie es ihr geht.I'll ring my grandma and ask how she is.
  • Ich danke Ihnen für die Hilfe.Thank you for your help.
  • Gehört der Hund euren Nachbarn?Does the dog belong to your neighbours?
  • Mir tut der Rücken weh.My back hurts.
  • Wir schenken unserem Lehrer ein Buch.We are giving our teacher a book.
  • Der Schlüssel? Ich gebe ihn dir morgen.The key? I'll give it to you tomorrow.

Formation

  • The dative of er and es is ihm.
  • The dative of sie (“she”) is ihr.
  • The dative of wir is uns, and the dative of sie (“they”) is ihnen.
  • The polite Sie has Ihnen in the dative, with a capital letter.
NominativeichduersieeswirihrsieSie
AccusativemichdichihnsieesunseuchsieSie
DativemirdirihmihrihmunseuchihnenIhnen

Use

  • Like helfen, gefallen and geben, danken (“to thank”) and gratulieren (“to congratulate”) take the person in the dative.
  • With gehören (“to belong to”), the owner is in the dative.
  • With fehlen (“to be missing”), the person or thing missed is the subject.
  • With fehlen, the person who misses something is in the dative: Meine Freunde fehlen mir (“I miss my friends”).
  • With wehtun (“to hurt”), a separable verb, the part of the body is the subject.
  • With wehtun, the person who is hurting is in the dative: Mir tut der Kopf weh. (“My head hurts.”)
  • Wie geht es …? is also followed by the person in the dative.

Two objects

  • Verbs such as geben, schenken, zeigen, bringen, leihen and erklären take two objects.
  • With these verbs, the person who receives is in the dative, and the thing is in the accusative.
  • The order of the two objects depends on whether they are nouns or pronouns.
ObjectsOrderExample
two nounsdative, then accusativeIch zeige meinen Eltern die Fotos.
a pronoun and a nounpronoun firstIch zeige ihnen die Fotos. Ich zeige sie meinen Eltern.
two pronounsaccusative, then dativeIch zeige sie ihnen.

Difference from English

  • English him has one form where German has two: ihn (accusative) and ihm (dative).
  • English thank takes a direct object, but danken takes the dative: Ich danke dir.
  • English often puts to before the person (“a book to my brother”). In German, no preposition is used, and the person is in the dative: meinem Bruder ein Buch.
  • With wehtun, the body part is the subject in both languages. In German, the person is added in the dative where English uses my: Mir tut der Rücken weh. (“My back hurts.”)

Common mistakes

  • Ich helfe ihn. → Ich helfe ihm.Helfen takes the dative: ihm.
  • Ich danke dich. → Ich danke dir.Danken takes the person in the dative.
  • Ich gebe dir es. → Ich gebe es dir.With two pronouns, the accusative comes first.
  • Ich fehle meine Freunde. → Meine Freunde fehlen mir.The person missed is the subject of fehlen.

→ See also: Personal pronouns in the dative (A1)

Possessives in the dative

In the dative, the possessive articles take the endings of einem and einer: meinem, meiner, meinen.

  • Am Sonntag essen wir bei meinen Großeltern.On Sunday we are eating at my grandparents'.
  • Ich fahre mit meinem Bruder nach München.I'm going to Munich with my brother.
  • Ich helfe meiner Oma beim Kochen.I'm helping my grandma with the cooking.
  • Lena spielt mit ihren Freunden im Park.Lena is playing with her friends in the park.

Formation

  • In the dative, the possessive articles take the endings of einem and einer.
  • The ending is -em before a masculine or neuter noun, and -er before a feminine noun.
  • In the plural, the ending is -en, and the noun takes -n unless it already ends in -n or -s.
  • Mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer and Ihr all take these endings.
  • Before an ending, the second e of euer is dropped: eurem, eurer.
  • By contrast, the e of unser is usually kept: unserem, unserer.
MasculineFeminineNeuterPlural
nominativemeinmeinemeinmeine
accusativemeinenmeinemeinmeine
dativemeinemmeinermeinemmeinen + -n

Difference from English

  • English my friends has one form. In the German dative plural, the possessive and the noun both change: mit meinen Freunden.

Common mistakes

  • Ich wohne bei meine Eltern. → Ich wohne bei meinen Eltern.Bei takes the dative: meinen in the plural.
  • mit unseren Kinder → mit unseren KindernIn the dative plural, the noun takes -n.

→ See also: Possessive articles (A1)

In short

PointFormExample
dative pronounsmir, dir, ihm, ihr, ihm, uns, euch, ihnen, IhnenIch helfe ihr.
verbs with the dativehelfen, gefallen, geben, danken, gratulieren, gehören, fehlen, wehtunDas gehört mir.
two nounsdative before accusativeIch gebe dem Kind einen Apfel.
two pronounsaccusative before dativeIch gebe ihn ihm.
possessive, dative-em, -er, -en + -nmit meinem Bruder, bei meinen Eltern
question with a prepositionpreposition + wem, wenMit wem? Für wen?
whose, in speechvon + dativedas Auto von meinem Bruder

Asking with a preposition, saying whose: wem, wen, von + dative#

After a preposition, “who” is wem or wen; in speech, possession is often expressed with von and the dative.

  • Mit wem hast du gestern telefoniert?Who were you on the phone to yesterday?
  • Von wem ist der Brief?Who is the letter from?
  • Für wen ist der Kuchen?Who is the cake for?
  • Das ist das Fahrrad von meiner Schwester.That's my sister's bike.
  • Kennst du die Freundin von Paul?Do you know Paul's girlfriend?

Formation

  • After a preposition, the question word for a person takes the case of the preposition.
  • The preposition comes first in the question.
  • Mit, von, bei and zu take the dative: mit wem?, von wem?, bei wem?, zu wem?
  • Für takes the accusative: für wen?

Use

  • In speech, possession is often expressed with von and the dative instead of the genitive: die Eltern von Karl.
  • Das Auto von meinem Bruder and die Tasche von meiner Tante are also formed with von and the dative.
  • To say whose a thing is, a name with -s is also usual: Karls Eltern.

Difference from English

  • In English, a preposition can come at the end of a question. In German, the preposition comes first, followed by the question word in its case: Mit wem gehst du? (“Who are you going with?”)

Common mistakes

  • Wer fährst du mit? → Mit wem fährst du?The preposition comes first, and mit takes wem.
  • Für wem ist das? → Für wen ist das?Für takes the accusative: wen.

→ See also: Question words (A1)

Remember

  • After mit, von, bei or zu, use wem: Bei wem wohnst du? (“Who do you live with?”)
  • After für, use wen: Für wen kochst du heute? (“Who are you cooking for today?”)
  • In speech, use von and the dative to say whose a thing is: Das ist die Jacke von meinem Vater. (“That's my father's jacket.”)

You now know how to ask mit wem? (“with whom?”) or für wen? (“for whom?”) and say whose a thing is with von.

Practise

“The dative completed”, With whom, and whose: mit wem?, von wem?

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