Breakdown of Frag mal den Lehrer!
fragen
to ask
der Lehrer
the teacher
mal
just, once (softening particle)
Questions & Answers about Frag mal den Lehrer!
Why is it Frag and not Fragst or Fragen?
This is a command or request directed at one person you know well (the informal du). To make this command form (called the imperative), you take the regular du form (du fragst) and drop both the du and the -st ending, leaving just Frag.
What does mal mean here?
The word mal is a tiny filler word (a modal particle) used to soften a command. Without it, Frag den Lehrer! sounds a bit strict, like a direct order. Adding mal makes it sound casual and friendly, similar to saying "Just ask the teacher" or "Go ahead and ask" in English.
Why is it den Lehrer and not dem Lehrer? Doesn't speaking to someone usually take the dative case?
Good catch! While communicative verbs like antworten (to answer) and danken (to thank) take the dative case, fragen (to ask) takes the accusative case. Since Lehrer (teacher) is a masculine noun, the accusative word for "the" is den.
The current lesson is about the dative preposition nach. Could I use it here and say Frag nach dem Lehrer?
You could, but it completely changes the meaning! In our sentence, fragen with an accusative object means to ask the teacher a question. If you add the preposition nach (which always forces the dative case), it means to ask about or for someone. So, Frag nach dem Lehrer! would mean "Ask for the teacher!" (for example, asking a receptionist where the teacher is), rather than asking the teacher a question directly.
Learn Frag mal den Lehrer 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