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Ich gebe dir morgen eine persönliche Antwort.

Ich gebe dir morgen eine persönliche Antwort.
I will give you a personal answer tomorrow.
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Questions & Answers about Ich gebe dir morgen eine persönliche Antwort.

Why is gebe in the present tense if the sentence is about the future (morgen)?

German very often uses the present tense to talk about future events when there is a clear time expression like morgen, nächste Woche, bald, etc.

  • Ich gebe dir morgen eine persönliche Antwort.
    = I will give you a personal answer tomorrow.

Using werde + infinitive (the “future tense”) is also possible:

  • Ich werde dir morgen eine persönliche Antwort geben.

However, in everyday spoken and written German, the simple present (ich gebe) with a time adverb (morgen) is more common and sounds very natural. The future tense with werden is usually used for emphasis, assumptions, or to be extra clear, but it’s not required just because the meaning is future.

Why is it dir and not dich?

Dir is the dative form of du, and dich is the accusative form.

The verb geben (to give) normally takes:

  • a direct object (the thing given) in the accusative, and
  • an indirect object (the person who receives it) in the dative.

In this sentence:

  • eine persönliche Antwort = what is given → accusative object
  • dir = to whom the answer is given → dative object

So the pattern is:

  • Ich (subject, nominative)
  • gebe (verb)
  • dir (indirect object, dative)
  • eine persönliche Antwort (direct object, accusative)

You would use dich after verbs that take a direct object, like sehen (to see):

  • Ich sehe dich. – I see you. (you = direct object → accusative)
What is the gender of Antwort, and how does that affect eine persönliche?

Antwort is feminine: die Antwort.

Because of that, in the accusative singular with an indefinite article, you get:

  • eine (indefinite article, feminine accusative singular)
  • persönliche (adjective agreeing with a feminine accusative singular noun)
  • Antwort (feminine noun)

So the forms are:

  • Nominative: eine persönliche Antwort (e.g. Das ist eine persönliche Antwort.)
  • Accusative: eine persönliche Antwort (same form: Ich gebe dir eine persönliche Antwort.)

If the noun were masculine, the forms would look different:

  • eine persönliche Brief ❌ (incorrect, because Brief is masculine)
  • ein persönlicher Brief ✅ (nominative)
  • einen persönlichen Brief ✅ (accusative: Ich schreibe dir einen persönlichen Brief.)
Why is it eine persönliche Antwort and not eine persönlich Antwort?

When an adjective comes directly before a noun and describes it, it must take an adjective ending that agrees with the gender, number, and case of the noun.

  • persönlich is the base form of the adjective (“personal”).
  • In eine persönliche Antwort, persönliche is an attributive adjective, so it needs an ending: -e.

The pattern here (feminine, accusative, with eine) is:

  • article: eine
  • adjective ending: -e → persönliche
  • noun: Antwort

If you use the adjective after a verb (predicative use), it does not take an ending:

  • Die Antwort ist persönlich. – The answer is personal.
    (Here persönlich stands alone after ist, not directly before the noun.)
Why is there no word for “to” before dir, like in English “to you”?

German often expresses meanings like English “to someone” through case endings (dative) rather than a separate preposition.

In English:

  • I give a personal answer to you.

In German:

  • Ich gebe dir eine persönliche Antwort.

The dative case on dir already carries the meaning “to you”. No extra preposition is needed with verbs like geben, schenken, zeigen, erzählen, schicken, etc., when you introduce the indirect object (the person who receives something).

So you should not say:

  • ❌ Ich gebe zu dir eine persönliche Antwort. (ungrammatical in this meaning)
  • ✅ Ich gebe dir eine persönliche Antwort.
Can I change the word order, for example say Morgen gebe ich dir eine persönliche Antwort?

Yes. German word order is quite flexible as long as you keep the finite verb in second position in main clauses.

Your original sentence:

  • Ich gebe dir morgen eine persönliche Antwort.

You can move the time word morgen to the front for emphasis:

  • Morgen gebe ich dir eine persönliche Antwort.
    (Focus on tomorrow.)

In both cases, gebe is still in second position:

  1. Ich (1st element) → gebe (2nd element)
  2. Morgen (1st element) → gebe (2nd element)

What you should avoid is splitting up the verb and pushing gebe out of second position:

  • ❌ Ich morgen dir gebe eine persönliche Antwort.

Within the “middle field” (between the finite verb and the sentence-final part), there is preferred ordering (roughly: pronouns → time → manner → place → other), which is why:

  • Ich gebe dir morgen eine persönliche Antwort.

sounds better than:

  • Ich gebe morgen dir eine persönliche Antwort. (understandable, but unusual and awkward in normal speech).
Could I also say Ich werde dir morgen eine persönliche Antwort geben? Is there any difference?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct:

  • Ich werde dir morgen eine persönliche Antwort geben.

Meaning-wise, it still corresponds to English:

  • I will give you a personal answer tomorrow.

Differences:

  • Ich gebe dir morgen … (present tense + time word)

    • Very common and totally natural.
    • Neutral statement about a planned future action.

  • Ich werde dir morgen … geben. (future tense with werden)

    • Slightly more formal or emphatic.
    • Can sound more like a firm promise, announcement, or prediction, depending on context.

In many everyday situations, Germans prefer the simple present with morgen rather than the werden-future.

What are all the forms of du, and where does dir fit in?

Du is the informal singular “you”. Its main forms are:

  • Nominative (subject): du

    • Du gibst mir morgen eine Antwort. – You give me an answer tomorrow.

  • Accusative (direct object): dich

    • Ich sehe dich. – I see you.

  • Dative (indirect object): dir

    • Ich gebe dir eine Antwort. – I give you an answer.

  • Genitive (possessive, rare as a pronoun): deiner

    • Ich erinnere mich deiner. – I remember you. (very formal/literary)

Plus the possessive adjective:

  • dein (your) → dein Buch, deine Antwort, dein Auto, etc.

In Ich gebe dir morgen eine persönliche Antwort, dir is the dative form because you are the indirect object (the receiver of the answer).

Could I leave out persönliche and just say Ich gebe dir morgen eine Antwort?

Yes. Grammatically that’s completely fine:

  • Ich gebe dir morgen eine Antwort. – I’ll give you an answer tomorrow.

By removing persönliche, you simply lose the extra nuance “personal”. The structure of the sentence (cases, word order, verb use) stays the same:

  • Subject: Ich
  • Verb: gebe
  • Indirect object (dative): dir
  • Time adverb: morgen
  • Direct object (accusative): eine Antwort

You can also replace persönliche with other adjectives, following the same pattern:

  • Ich gebe dir morgen eine ausführliche Antwort. – a detailed answer
  • Ich gebe dir morgen eine schriftliche Antwort. – a written answer
Is Antwort countable in German? How would I say answers?

Yes, Antwort is a countable noun in German.

  • Singular: die Antwort – the answer
  • Plural: die Antworten – the answers

Examples:

  • Ich gebe dir morgen eine persönliche Antwort.
    – I’ll give you one personal answer tomorrow.

  • Ich gebe dir morgen persönliche Antworten.
    – I’ll give you personal answers tomorrow. (some unspecified number)

Note the changes:

  • The article eine disappears in the plural.
  • The noun takes the plural ending -en: Antworten.
  • The adjective in the plural accusative without article also gets -e: persönliche Antworten / persönliche Antworten (same form for nom./acc.).