Learn Hardcore German: Dein Feedback hilft mir sehr.

Infinitive: helfen = to help
Conjugation (present tense):
- ich helfe – I help
- du hilfst – you help (informal singular)
- er/sie/es hilft – he/she/it helps
- wir helfen – we help
- ihr helft – you help (informal plural)
- sie/Sie helfen – they / you (formal) help

In the sentence Dein Feedback hilft mir sehr, the subject is Dein Feedback = it (singular), so we need er/sie/es hilft → hilft.

helfen would be the infinitive (“to help”), not a finite verb for the sentence.
Hilfe is a noun (help), not a verb form, so it doesn’t fit here.

Why is it mir and not mich?

German distinguishes between accusative and dative objects, and the verb helfen always takes the dative case.

Pronouns:

1st person singular:
- Nominative: ich (I)
- Accusative: mich (me – direct object)
- Dative: mir (to me – indirect object)

Because helfen means literally “to be helpful to someone,” the person who is being helped is in the dative:

Dein Feedback hilft mir. = Your feedback helps me. (to me)
Not: hilft mich (that would be accusative and is ungrammatical with helfen).

Other examples with helfen:

Kannst du mir helfen? – Can you help me?
Er hilft uns oft. – He often helps us.

So: mir is correct because helfen requires the dative.

Why is it Dein Feedback and not Deine Feedback?

The form of the possessive determiner dein- depends on the gender, number, and case of the noun it refers to.

Feedback in German is neuter: das Feedback
In the sentence, Feedback is the subject → nominative singular neuter.

Possessive dein (informal “your”) in the nominative:

Gender/Number	Nominative form
masculine	dein
neuter	dein
feminine	deine
plural	deine

Because Feedback is neuter singular nominative, the correct form is dein, not deine:

Dein Feedback hilft mir sehr. ✅
Deine Rückmeldung hilft mir sehr. ✅ (because Rückmeldung is feminine: die Rückmeldung)
Deine Kommentare helfen mir sehr. ✅ (plural: die Kommentare)

Could I say Dein Feedback hilft mich sehr?

No, that is incorrect in standard German.

The verb helfen always takes a dative object, so you must use mir, not mich:

✅ Dein Feedback hilft mir sehr.
❌ Dein Feedback hilft mich sehr.

Think of it like: “Your feedback is very helpful to me.”
That “to me” idea corresponds to the dative in German → mir.

What gender is Feedback, and why is it capitalized?

Feedback is treated as a neuter noun in German: das Feedback.
All nouns in German are capitalized, including loanwords from English.

So you get:

das Feedback – the feedback
Dein Feedback hilft mir sehr. – Your feedback helps me a lot.

Even though the word comes from English, it behaves like a normal German noun: capitalized, has a grammatical gender (neuter), and can take articles and possessives.

Why is there no article like das in front of Feedback?

In German, when you use a possessive determiner (like mein, dein, sein, unser, euer, ihr), you normally do not use an additional definite article:

dein Feedback – your feedback
mein Auto – my car
ihr Buch – her book

You don’t say:

❌ das dein Feedback
❌ das mein Auto

The possessive itself already functions like an article. So Dein Feedback is complete and correct on its own.

Can I change the word order and say Mir hilft dein Feedback sehr?

Yes, that is grammatically correct. German word order is quite flexible as long as the finite verb stays in second position in a main clause.

Both sentences are correct:

Dein Feedback hilft mir sehr.
Mir hilft dein Feedback sehr.

The meaning is the same, but the emphasis changes slightly:

Dein Feedback hilft mir sehr. → neutral; slight emphasis on Dein Feedback (what helps me).
Mir hilft dein Feedback sehr. → emphasizes mir (to me, personally, it helps a lot).

In both cases, hilft is in the second position, so the basic word-order rule (V2) is respected.

Where does sehr have to go? Could I say Dein Feedback hilft sehr mir?

Sehr is an adverb meaning very / a lot and here it modifies hilft (how much it helps).

The natural position is after the pronoun and close to the verb phrase:

✅ Dein Feedback hilft mir sehr.
✅ Dein Feedback hilft mir wirklich sehr. (adding another adverb)

Dein Feedback hilft sehr mir sounds wrong to a native speaker and is basically ungrammatical in standard German.

General guideline in simple sentences:

verb → pronouns → other adverbs like sehr
so: hilft mir sehr, not hilft sehr mir.

Can I leave out sehr? What changes?

Yes, you can leave it out:

Dein Feedback hilft mir. – Your feedback helps me.
Dein Feedback hilft mir sehr. – Your feedback helps me a lot / very much.

Without sehr, it’s a simple statement of fact.
With sehr, you’re emphasizing how helpful it is and sounding more appreciative or emphatic.

How would I say this formally instead of informally?

Dein is the informal singular “your” (for du).
For formal Sie, you use Ihr (capitalized) as the possessive:

Informal: Dein Feedback hilft mir sehr. (to a friend, colleague you say du to)
Formal: Ihr Feedback hilft mir sehr. (to a stranger, a professor, a customer, etc.)

Ihr must be capitalized in the formal form to distinguish it from the informal ihr (“her” / “their” / “you plural”).

Is there a more “German” word than Feedback I could use?

Yes, German has native-sounding alternatives, although Feedback is very common in modern German:

die Rückmeldung – feedback, response
die Rückmeldung is feminine, so:
- Deine Rückmeldung hilft mir sehr.

Other options depending on context:

die Meinung – opinion
- Deine Meinung hilft mir sehr.
die Anregungen – suggestions
- Deine Anregungen helfen mir sehr. (note the plural verb helfen)

Feedback is widely accepted and used especially in professional and educational contexts, but using Rückmeldung can sound a bit more traditionally “German.”

What tense is hilft, and can it also refer to the future?

Hilft is present tense (Präsens).

In German, the present tense is often used for:

actions happening now
regular or general truths
near future plans or expectations, if the context makes this clear

So Dein Feedback hilft mir sehr can mean:

Your feedback helps me a lot (in general, repeatedly).
Your feedback is really helping me a lot (right now).

If you want to make the future more explicit, you can say:

Dein Feedback wird mir sehr helfen. – Your feedback will help me a lot.

But in many contexts, the simple present hilft is enough to imply a general or ongoing help.

How would this sentence change if I’m talking about multiple people giving feedback?

If multiple people are giving feedback, you change the possessive determiner and possibly the pronouns.

Informal plural ihr (“you all”):
- Euer Feedback hilft mir sehr. – Your (plural, informal) feedback helps me a lot.
- Note that euer changes before endings (eure, euren, etc.), but before neuter nominative Feedback it’s just euer.
Formal plural Sie (same as formal singular):
- Ihr Feedback hilft mir sehr. – Your feedback helps me a lot.
- This works for one formal person or several; context decides.
If you also change mir to “us”:
- Dein Feedback hilft uns sehr. – Your feedback helps us a lot.
- Euer Feedback hilft uns sehr. – Your (plural, informal) feedback helps us a lot.
- Ihr Feedback hilft uns sehr. – Your (formal) feedback helps us a lot.