{"id":93511,"date":"2023-03-24T20:54:01","date_gmt":"2023-03-25T00:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/german-dative\/"},"modified":"2025-02-22T05:07:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-22T10:07:46","slug":"german-dative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-dative\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dative Case in German"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to speak proper German, you have to really know your cases. German has four: nominative, accusative, genitive<\/a> and dative <\/strong>(the case we’re focusing on today that most language learners come to fear).<\/p>\n

Don’t worry, we’re going to make it as easy as possible for you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What Is the German Dative?<\/h2>\n

The dative’s main purpose is to point out the “indirect object”. That’s the person or thing that is receiving the “direct object”. For example:<\/p>\n

Ich gebe der Frau einen Stift. <\/em>(I give the woman a pen.)<\/p>\n

In the above sentence, the “pen” is the thing being “given”, the action of the verb is being done to it. This makes it the direct object and so it goes in the accusative case.<\/p>\n

The “woman” is receiving this direct object, making her the indirect object and putting her in the dative case.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One reason learners grapple with the German dative so much more than any other case is because it changes every definite and indefinite article.<\/p>\n

In the example above, you’ll notice how\u00a0die Frau<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>has changed to\u00a0der Frau<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em>This is because the dative changes the feminine definite article from die<\/em><\/strong> to der<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If a sentence or clause is in the dative case, you need to make sure you’re using dative articles with nouns. As we don’t change articles in English, this can be tricky for learners to get their heads around.<\/p>\n

It’s important to study these isolated examples, so we can learn the rules and understand how the dative works.<\/p>\n

However, once you remember the following pattern of changes, you’ll find your understanding of German improves by leaps and bounds.<\/p>\n

German Dative Verbs<\/h2>\n

Some German verbs<\/a> always require the dative case\u2014whether the following noun is the indirect object or not. Some notable ones are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
to help<\/td> helfen <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to thank<\/td> danken <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to like<\/td> gefallen <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to belong to<\/td> geh\u00f6ren <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to match<\/td> passen <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to taste<\/td> schmecken <\/a>\n <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Here’s an example of how these verbs work:<\/p>\n

Kannst du mir bitte helfen? <\/em>(Can you please help me?)<\/p>\n

In this instance, even though “me” is the direct object and would usually take the accusative, helfen<\/em> forces it to be in the dative.<\/p>\n

German Dative Prepositions<\/h2>\n

There is also a group of German prepositions<\/a> that must be followed by the dative case.\u00a0Try this handy version of “On the Beautiful Blue Danube”<\/a>\u00a0for remembering these prepositions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
from\/out\/over<\/td> aus <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
except\/besides<\/td> au\u00dfer <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
with\/by<\/td> bei <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
with<\/td> mit <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
after\/to<\/td> nach <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
since<\/td> seit <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
from\/of<\/td> von <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
to\/too<\/td> zu <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Sie kommt aus der Turkei. <\/em>(She comes from Turkey.)<\/p>\n

Note: In German, Turkey (the country, not the bird!) translates as die Turkei<\/em>\u2014it always has a definite article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mixed German Prepositions<\/h2>\n

Here we have a group of prepositions that, just to confuse things, can take either the accusative or dative case. If there is no movement or change of state in the sentence, you’ll need to use the dative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
on<\/td> an <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
on\/upon<\/td> auf <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
behind<\/td> hinter <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
in\/into<\/td> in <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
near\/next to<\/td> neben <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
over\/above<\/td> \u00fcber <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
under<\/td> unter <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
in front of\/before\/to<\/td> vor <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
in between<\/td> zwischen <\/a>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

So, for example:<\/p>\n

Das Buch liegt auf dem<\/strong> Tisch. <\/em>(The book is lying on the table.)<\/p>\n

Ich lege das Buch auf den<\/strong> Tisch. <\/em> (I lay the book onto the table.)<\/p>\n

In the top sentence, the book is lying still on the table. There is no movement<\/strong> in the sentence, so\u00a0auf<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>triggers\u00a0the dative<\/strong> case. Therefore,\u00a0der Tisch<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>changes to\u00a0dem Tisch<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Whereas in the bottom sentence, the book is being moved onto the table.\u00a0Der Tisch<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>needs to change to\u00a0den Tisch<\/em><\/strong> because the movement<\/strong> along with\u00a0auf<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>requires the accusative<\/strong> case.<\/p>\n

To internalize these verbs and prepositions, you can see how the dative case is used in context on FluentU.<\/p>\n

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