The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

The Dative case

In German, the Dative case is used to identify the indirect object of a sentence. This is usually the person who receives or benefits from an action—like the person you are giving a gift to.

To show that a noun is in the Dative case, its definite article changes form. Note that for plural nouns, you must also add an -n to the end of the noun itself!

Dative verbs

Certain German verbs always require their object to be in the Dative case, even if they just look like regular direct objects in English. Common examples include helfen (to help), antworten (to answer), and danken (to thank).

Likes and ownership

Verbs that express belonging or impressions—like gehören (to belong to), gefallen (to please / to like), and schmecken (to taste / to like food)—also use the Dative. The object being experienced is the subject, and the person experiencing it takes the Dative.

Notice in the soup example that die Freunde (the friends) becomes den Freunden in the plural Dative, using the article den and adding an -n to the noun.

Giving and showing

When using verbs like schenken (to gift) or zeigen (to show), sentences usually have two objects. The thing being given or shown takes the Accusative case, while the receiver takes the Dative case.

Asking "To whom?"

To ask who receives an action or who something belongs to, use the Dative question word wem (whom / to whom).