Breakdown of Wir schicken uns gegenseitig eine Nachricht.
wir
we
die Nachricht
the message
schicken
to send
uns gegenseitig
each other
Questions & Answers about Wir schicken uns gegenseitig eine Nachricht.
Why is it uns and not wir?
Because wir is the nominative subject form and uns is the object form. In this sentence, Wir is the subject (the senders), and uns is the indirect object (the recipients). German uses the pattern jemandem (Dative) etwas (Accusative) schicken.
What cases are uns and eine Nachricht?
- uns is Dative (the recipient).
- eine Nachricht is Accusative (the thing being sent).
You can see the pattern with a different person: Ich schicke dir eine Nachricht (Dative dir, Accusative eine Nachricht).
How do I know uns is Dative and not Accusative, since both forms look the same?
By the verb’s valency: schicken takes a Dative recipient and an Accusative thing. If you switch to second person singular, the forms differ and make it obvious: Ich schicke dir (Dat) dich (Acc) … Only dir fits the recipient role, so uns must be Dative in the original sentence.
Is gegenseitig necessary here?
It’s optional but adds clarity. Wir schicken uns eine Nachricht often implies reciprocity from context, but gegenseitig explicitly marks the action as mutual and removes any (theoretical) ambiguity. It also emphasizes the two-way nature of the exchange.