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Learn Hardcore German: Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu. - I write myself a note about it.

Hardcore German
/Lesson 74
/Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu.

Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu.

Word

Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu.

Meaning

I write myself a note about it.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore German

Lesson

Breakdown of Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu.

Questions & Answers about Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu.

Why is it mir and not mich in „Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu.“?

Mir is the dative form of ich, and mich is the accusative form.

In this sentence there are two “receivers” of the action:

the note = direct object → accusative
to/for myself = indirect object → dative

So you get:

eine Notiz → accusative (what am I writing?)
mir → dative (to/for whom am I writing it?)

German often uses a dative pronoun to express “to myself / for myself”:

Ich koche mir einen Kaffee. – I’m making (for myself) a coffee.
Ich kaufe mir ein neues Handy. – I’m buying myself a new phone.
Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz. – I’m writing myself a note.

Using mich here would be ungrammatical: *Ich schreibe mich eine Notiz is wrong.

Is mir here a reflexive pronoun like in „Ich wasche mich“?

It’s not strictly reflexive, but it plays a similar role.

In Ich wasche mich, mich is a true reflexive pronoun.
The verb sich waschen is reflexive by nature.
In Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz, the verb schreiben is not a reflexive verb.
Instead, mir is a : it shows that you benefit from the action.

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dative pronoun of interest/benefit

This structure is very common:

Ich mache mir einen Tee. – I’m making myself a tea.
Ich nehme mir Zeit. – I’m taking time for myself.
Ich lese mir den Text noch einmal durch. – I read the text again (for myself).

So: it looks reflexive (same person as subject), but grammatically it’s the dative object, not a reflexive “part” of the verb.

Can I leave out mir and just say „Ich schreibe eine Notiz dazu“?

Yes, grammatically you can say:

Ich schreibe eine Notiz dazu.

But there is a nuance:

Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu.
→ very clearly: I’m writing a note for myself, for my own use (e.g. to remember something).
Ich schreibe eine Notiz dazu.
→ neutral: I’m writing a note about it.
It could be for yourself, or for someone else, or just generally; the sentence doesn’t say.

In many everyday situations where you’re talking about reminders, Germans practically always use mir:

Warte, ich schreibe mir dazu eine Notiz.
“Wait, I’ll write myself a note about that.”

Why is the word order „Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu“ and not „Ich schreibe eine Notiz mir dazu“?

German has a fairly stable rule for pronouns and objects in the middle field (the part between the conjugated verb and the sentence end):

Pronouns tend to come before full noun phrases.
If you have both dative and accusative objects and one of them is a pronoun, the usual order is:
- Dative pronoun → Accusative noun

So:

Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu.
Subject – verb – dative pronoun – accusative noun – adverb.

„Ich schreibe eine Notiz mir dazu“ sounds wrong to native speakers in standard German.

Other correct patterns:

Ich schreibe mir dazu eine Notiz. (moves dazu, still fine)
Dazu schreibe ich mir eine Notiz. (moves dazu to the front; still proper word order: verb is second)

Why is it eine Notiz and not ein Notiz or something else?

Because of gender and case:

Notiz is a feminine noun in German: die Notiz.
In this sentence, Notiz is the direct object → accusative case.
Feminine nouns have the same article in nominative and accusative: eine.

So:

Nominative: eine Notiz – Eine Notiz liegt auf dem Tisch.
Accusative: eine Notiz – Ich schreibe eine Notiz.

Here: Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz → eine = accusative feminine singular.

What exactly does dazu mean here? Could I also use darüber, daran, or deshalb?

Dazu is a da- + preposition word from zu (“to”, “for”, “regarding”).
In this sentence, dazu loosely means:

“about that / related to that / on that topic / for that purpose”

So Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu = I’m writing myself a note about that / for that (whatever was just mentioned).

Comparisons:

darüber (über + das):
Often “about it” in the sense of talking or thinking:
- Ich denke darüber nach. – I’m thinking about it.
- Wir sprechen darüber. – We’re talking about it.
daran (an + das):
“on it” or “about it” in more specific contexts:
- Daran erinnere ich mich nicht. – I don’t remember that.
- Ich arbeite daran. – I’m working on it.
deshalb / deswegen:
“therefore / because of that”, expressing a reason:
- Ich bin müde, deshalb gehe ich ins Bett. – I’m tired, that’s why I’m going to bed.

In your sentence, dazu is the natural choice: it connects the note to previously mentioned information or plans.
„Ich schreibe mir darüber eine Notiz“ is not idiomatic; we normally say dazu here.

Why does dazu go at the end? Could it stand somewhere else in the sentence?

In a simple main clause, the basic frame is:

[Subject] – [conjugated verb] – [middle field] – [rest / end elements]

Short adverbs like dazu often appear:

in the middle field, or
at the end, especially when other elements come first.

Typical positions here:

Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu. – very common.
Ich schreibe mir dazu eine Notiz. – also correct; just a slightly different rhythm.
Dazu schreibe ich mir eine Notiz. – emphasizes dazu (“for that / regarding that, I’ll write myself a note”).

Placing it between verb and subject or splitting verb and mir would be wrong:

*Ich dazu schreibe mir eine Notiz. – incorrect.
*Ich schreibe dazu mir eine Notiz. – sounds off; native speakers strongly prefer mir next to the verb, then the longer phrase (eine Notiz), then dazu.

Is „Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz“ idiomatic, or should I say „Ich mache mir eine Notiz“?

Both are idiomatic, but they have slightly different flavors:

Ich mache mir eine Notiz.
Very common in spoken and written German.
Neutral, everyday way to say “I’ll make myself a note.”
Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz.
Also correct and natural, but it focuses a bit more on the act of writing itself.
You’ll hear it, but machen is more frequent in generic “reminder” contexts.

So you can safely use:

Ich mache mir eine Notiz dazu.
Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz dazu.

Both sound good; machen might be slightly more colloquial/everyday.

Could I say „Ich schreibe eine Notiz für mich“ instead of „Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz“?

Yes, that’s possible, but there is a stylistic and slight nuance difference:

Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz.
– Very idiomatic, compact, and the most natural way to say “I write myself a note.”
– The dative pronoun is the standard way to express “for myself” in this kind of sentence.
Ich schreibe eine Notiz für mich.
– Grammatically correct, but sounds a bit more deliberate or explanatory:
“I’m writing a note for me (not for anyone else).”
– You’d use this more if you want to stress the contrast (for me vs. for others).

In everyday speech, native speakers overwhelmingly prefer „Ich schreibe mir eine Notiz“.

Why is it „Ich schreibe“ and not „Ich schreibt“?

This is just standard verb conjugation in the present tense:

The verb is schreiben (to write). In the present:

ich schreibe – I write / I am writing
du schreibst – you write (informal singular)
er/sie/es schreibt – he/she/it writes
wir schreiben – we write
ihr schreibt – you (plural, informal) write
sie/Sie schreiben – they / you (formal) write

Since the subject is ich, you must use schreibe.
„Ich schreibt“ mixes ich (1st person) with -t (3rd person/ihr ending) and is incorrect.

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