Breakdown of Dieser Moment im Garten macht mich ruhig.
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
machen
to make
der Garten
the garden
Questions & Answers about Dieser Moment im Garten macht mich ruhig.
Why is it dieser Moment and not diesen Moment or diesem Moment?
Because Moment is the subject of the sentence, so it’s in the nominative case.
Moment is a masculine noun, so in the nominative singular the form of dies- is dieser.
Very short declension overview for dies- (singular):
- Masculine: dieser (Nom), diesen (Acc), diesem (Dat), dieses (Gen)
- Feminine: diese, diese, dieser, dieser
- Neuter: dieses, dieses, diesem, dieses
So dieser Moment = this moment as the subject (the thing that does the “making”).
Why is mich used here and not mir?
Mich is the accusative form of ich; mir is the dative form.
The verb machen here is used in a causative sense:
- jemanden ruhig machen = to make someone calm
The person who is being made calm is a direct object, which in German takes the accusative case:
- Dieser Moment im Garten macht mich ruhig.
- Dieser Moment = subject (nominative)
- mich = direct object (accusative)
You would only use mir with verbs or structures that require a dative object (e.g. mir ist kalt, mir helfen).