Breakdown of Der Kellner war gut und wir haben ihm Trinkgeld gegeben.
sein
to be
und
and
gut
good / well
haben
to have
wir
we
geben
to give
ihm
him / it / to him / to it (dative)
der Kellner
the waiter
das Trinkgeld
the tip
Questions & Answers about Der Kellner war gut und wir haben ihm Trinkgeld gegeben.
Why does the past participle gegeben end in -en instead of -t?
Because geben (to give) is an irregular (or strong) verb. Regular verbs form their past participle with ge- and -t (like gemacht), but irregular verbs usually end in -en and sometimes change their stem vowel. You just have to memorize these!
Why do we use ihm instead of ihn for the word him?
We use the dative pronoun ihm because the waiter is receiving the tip. In German, the person you give something to is the indirect object and takes the dative case. The thing being given (Trinkgeld) is the direct object and takes the accusative case.
Why does the sentence use war for was, but haben ... gegeben for gave?
In conversational German, the Perfekt tense (haben + past participle) is used for almost all verbs to talk about the past. However, a few very common verbs, especially sein (to be) and haben (to have), are usually used in their simple past forms (war and hatte) because they are faster to say.
What is the literal translation of the word Trinkgeld?
It literally translates to drink money! It is a compound noun made from trinken (to drink) and Geld (money).
Learn Der Kellner war gut und wir haben ihm Trinkgeld gegeben and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free