Breakdown of Die Nachhilfelehrerin erklärt mir die Aufgabe langsam.
langsam
slowly
mir
me
erklären
to explain
die Aufgabe
the exercise
Questions & Answers about Die Nachhilfelehrerin erklärt mir die Aufgabe langsam.
Why is it mir and not mich?
Mir is the dative form of “ich” (I), and mich is the accusative form.
Many German verbs, including erklären, often take two objects:
- Dative = the person who receives something (indirect object)
- Accusative = the thing that is given / explained / shown (direct object)
The pattern with erklären is:
- jemandem (DAT) etwas (AKK) erklären
= to explain something to someone
So here:
- mir = to me (dative, the person receiving the explanation)
- die Aufgabe = the exercise/task (accusative, the thing being explained)
If you used mich, it would incorrectly treat “me” as the direct object:
- Die Nachhilfelehrerin erklärt mich die Aufgabe ❌ (ungrammatical)
Why is it die Aufgabe and not der Aufgabe?