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### 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!

| Gender | Nominative (Subject) | Dative (Receiver) |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | der | dem |
| Neuter | das | dem |
| Feminine | die | der |
| Plural | die | den (+ -n on noun) |

### 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).

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### 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.

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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.

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### Asking "To whom?"

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

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

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Subordinate clauses for reasons (weil)

Question	Answer
to help	helfen
the teacher	der Lehrer
The man helps the teacher.	Der Mann hilft dem Lehrer.
to answer	antworten
The child answers the teacher.	Das Kind antwortet dem Lehrer.
to thank	danken
We thank the woman.	Wir danken der Frau.
to belong to	gehören
The car belongs to the man.	Das Auto gehört dem Mann.
to please	gefallen
The child likes the book.	Das Buch gefällt dem Kind.
to taste	schmecken
The friends like the soup.	Die Suppe schmeckt den Freunden.
to give (as a gift)	schenken
I am gifting the girl a book.	Ich schenke dem Mädchen ein Buch.
to show	zeigen
You are showing the children a dog.	Du zeigst den Kindern einen Hund.
whom	wem
Who does the dog belong to?	Wem gehört der Hund?
Who are you helping today?	Wem hilfst du heute?
The parents thank the people.	Die Eltern danken den Leuten.
The mother always likes the coffee.	Der Kaffee schmeckt der Mutter immer.
The father answers the children.	Der Vater antwortet den Kindern.
The woman likes the house.	Das Haus gefällt der Frau.
We are gifting the parents a car.	Wir schenken den Eltern ein Auto.
He is showing the teacher a picture.	Er zeigt dem Lehrer ein Bild.