Word
Wir wünschen dir Glück.
Meaning
We wish you luck.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Wir wünschen dir Glück.
wir
we
dir
you; (informal singular, dative)
wünschen
to wish
das Glück
luck or happiness
Questions & Answers about Wir wünschen dir Glück.
Why is it dir and not du?
Because dir is the dative form of du.
The verb wünschen often takes:
- a person in the dative: dir = to you
- a thing in the accusative: Glück = luck
So the structure is:
jemandem etwas wünschen
= to wish someone something
That is why German says:
- Wir wünschen dir Glück.
not
- Wir wünschen du Glück.
What case is Glück here?
Glück is the accusative object of the sentence.
With wünschen, the thing being wished is usually in the accusative:
- Wir wünschen dir Glück.
- Ich wünsche dir Erfolg.
- Sie wünscht ihm alles Gute.
In this sentence:
- wir = subject
- dir = indirect object, dative
- Glück = direct object, accusative
Because Glück has no article here, you do not see a visible accusative ending.
Why is there no article before ?