Breakdown of Der Glaube ist ihm wichtig.
sein
to be
wichtig
important
ihm
him / it / to him / to it (dative)
der Glaube
the belief, the faith
Questions & Answers about Der Glaube ist ihm wichtig.
Why is there a 'der' before 'Glaube' when the English translation is just 'Faith'?
In German, abstract concepts and general ideas like faith, time, or life usually require a definite article (der, die, or das). So, you must say der Glaube even though we do not say 'the faith' in English.
Why does the sentence use the dative pronoun 'ihm' instead of 'für ihn' (for him)?
When you want to express that something is important to someone, German commonly pairs the adjective wichtig (important) directly with a dative object. ihm is the dative form of er (he). You could technically use für ihn (for him), but using the dative case is the standard and most natural way to say this.
Our current lesson is about 'dass' (that) clauses. How would I use this phrase to say 'It is important to him that...'?
You would use es (it) as the subject of the main clause: Es ist ihm wichtig, dass.... Remember that dass is a subordinating conjunction, so in the clause introduced by dass, the conjugated verb must be pushed all the way to the end!
Can I change the word order if I want to emphasize that it is important to HIM?
Yes! You can move the dative pronoun to the front of the sentence for emphasis: Ihm ist der Glaube wichtig. Notice that the verb ist stays firmly in the second position, which pushes the subject der Glaube into the third position.
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