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Dativ

The dative case is used for indirect objects in German. It answers the questions "to whom?" or "for whom?". Some verbs that often take an indirect object include "to give", "to bring", "to tell", and "to buy". There are also dative verbs and dative prepositions that require the dative case. The dative case is formed by adding "-e" to definite articles. Examples of dative case usage include "Ich gebe der Frau ein Buch" and "Er schenkt mir ein Buch".

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660 views3 pages

Dativ

The dative case is used for indirect objects in German. It answers the questions "to whom?" or "for whom?". Some verbs that often take an indirect object include "to give", "to bring", "to tell", and "to buy". There are also dative verbs and dative prepositions that require the dative case. The dative case is formed by adding "-e" to definite articles. Examples of dative case usage include "Ich gebe der Frau ein Buch" and "Er schenkt mir ein Buch".

Uploaded by

Keti Rukhadze
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Dativ

When to use the dative case?

A primary use of the dative case is for the indirect object of a sentence. An indirect object is the
beneficiary of whatever happens in a sentence. It’s usually a person, although it doesn’t have to be. If
you ask yourself: “TO whom or FOR whom is this being done?”, the answer will be the indirect object,
and in German it will need the dative case.

Not every sentence will have an indirect object. Like in English, only some verbs allow an indirect
object: to give (to), to bring (to), to tell (to), to buy (for), to send (to) are some good examples of verbs
that will almost always have an indirect object. In English, we don't distinguish the direct and indirect
object in the forms of words; instead, we often use "to" or "for" to mark these. If you can potentially
insert "to" or "for" in front of a noun in an English sentence, it's probably an indirect object.

Ich gebe der Frau ein Buch. I’m giving her a book = a book to her.
Er schenkt mir ein Buch. He's giving me a book.
Wir kaufen unserer Mutter ein Geschenk. We're buying our mother a present.

There are two other uses for the dative case.


1) the dative verbs: ähneln, antworten, befehlen, begegnen, danken, einfallen, erwidern, fehlen,
folgen, gefallen, es geht, gehören, gehorchen, glauben, gratulieren, helfen, leichtfallen, sich
nähren, raten, schaden, schmecken, schmerzen, schwerfallen, vertrauen, verziehen, zuhören.
2) dative case with PREPOSITIONS

Mit With
Nach After, to
Bei At, near, with
Seit Since
Von From, by
Zu To
Entgegen Against, contrary to
Gegenüber Across from
Außer Except for, besides
Aus Out of, from
Ab from

Note: there are several contractions that occur with dative prepositions. They are:

vom = von dem zum = zu dem beim = bei dem


zur = zu der

the preposition “in” often uses the dative case. When ‘in’ is used with a stationary verb (e.g.
He’s in the house), it takes the dative case. Like the contractions above, im = in dem.
Formation of the dativ article:

When to use which case

So, when you're trying to decide which case to use, consider the following things:

1. Is it a fixed expression? (such as Mir ist kalt, or Es tut mir Leid)


2. Does the noun follow either an accusative or a dative preposition? If so, this should be easy,
since the preposition determines the case. Just make sure you know which prepositions take
the accusative and which take the dative.
3. Is the verb a dative verb? If so, the object will be in the dative.
4. If none of the other conditions apply, then you need to determine which noun in the
sentence is the subject, and put that in nominative. Then look for a direct object (put in
accusative) and indirect object (put in dative). Remember that not every sentence
necessarily has a direct object and an indirect object: some have only one or the other, or
none at all.
Dativ & Akkusativ Prepositions

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