The German dative case: when to use it, tables and common mistakes

Reading time: 11 minutes | Category: German grammar

The German dative case marks the indirect object: the person who receives something or for whom something is done. It answers the question Wem? (to whom?). You also need the dative after the prepositions aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu, gegenüber and ab, after two-way prepositions such as in or auf when they describe a location, and with verbs like helfen, danken, gefallen and gehören. In the dative, der and das become dem, die becomes der, and the plural becomes den with an extra -n on the noun: mit den Kindern.

This article assumes you can already tell the subject (nominative) from the direct object (accusative).

The four German cases and where the dative fits

German has four cases. You mostly see them in the article and in pronouns, not in the noun itself:

• Nominative (Wer? who?): the subject.
• Accusative (Wen? Was? whom? what?): the direct object.
• Dative (Wem? to whom?): the indirect object, the person who receives or benefits.
• Genitive (Wessen? whose?): possession. In everyday speech it is often replaced by von + dative: das Auto von meinem Bruder (my brother's car).

One sentence shows three cases at once: Der Vater gibt dem Kind den Ball. (The father gives the child the ball.) Der Vater is the subject, den Ball is the thing being given (accusative) and dem Kind is the one receiving it (dative).

English still has a trace of this system. You say who for the subject and whom for the object, and to whom is exactly the German wem. The difference is that English uses one object form (me, him, her, us, them) for both direct and indirect objects, while German splits it in two: mich and mir, ihn and ihm. That single fact explains most of the mistakes further down.

When do you use the dative in German?

1. The indirect object

Verbs of giving, showing, sending or explaining often have two objects: a thing (accusative) and a person who gets it (dative). Typical verbs are geben, schenken, zeigen, erklären, schicken, bringen and empfehlen.

• Ich schicke meiner Schwester ein Foto. (I send my sister a photo.)
• Kannst du mir das Salz geben? (Can you pass me the salt?)

2. Dative prepositions

These prepositions are always followed by the dative, with no exceptions. Learn the core seven as one string, aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu, and add gegenüber and ab.

With the definite article you get contractions that you will see everywhere: zum (zu dem), zur (zu der), beim (bei dem) and vom (von dem). Ich gehe zur Arbeit. Ich bin beim Zahnarzt. Watch out for nach Hause (home, as a destination) versus zu Hause (at home); in Austria and Switzerland you will also see zuhause.

3. Two-way prepositions: Wo? or Wohin?

Nine prepositions can take either the dative or the accusative: an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen. The question decides. If something is in a place (Wo?, where?), use the dative. If something moves towards a destination (Wohin?, where to?), use the accusative.

English gives you a partial hint: in versus into, on versus onto. If you could say into or onto, German wants the accusative. The hint stops working with verbs like put, because I put the book on the table has no onto. That is why the verbs matter: liegen, stehen, sitzen, hängen describe a position and go with the dative; legen, stellen, setzen, hängen describe the act of putting something somewhere and go with the accusative. The contractions follow the same logic: im and am are dative, ins and ans are accusative.

4. Dative verbs

Some verbs have only one object, and that object is in the dative. In English the same verbs take a normal direct object, so they feel wrong at first. Learn them with a full sentence:

Many everyday phrases also have a dative person in them: Wie geht es dir? (How are you?), Es tut mir leid (I am sorry), Mir ist kalt (I am cold).

German dative tables: articles and pronouns

The endings of the indefinite article are the same for kein and for all possessives (mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr).

A simple way to remember it: in the dative, masculine and neuter end in -m, feminine in -r and plural in -n.

Personal pronouns, with English for comparison:

Where English has one word (me), German has two (mich, mir), and the verb or preposition decides.

The plural -n

In the dative plural, the noun adds an -n as well as taking the article den: die Freunde becomes mit den Freunden, die Kinder becomes mit den Kindern, die Jahre becomes seit drei Jahren. Nothing is added when the plural already ends in -n (mit den Frauen) or -s (mit den Autos, in den Hotels).

A small group of masculine nouns (der Kollege, der Student, der Kunde, der Herr) also take -n in the singular: mit dem Kollegen.

Common mistakes English speakers make with the dative

In written tasks and speaking exams we see the same dative mistakes again and again, and most come straight from English.

"to me" translated as "zu mir"

English marks the indirect object with to: give it to me, send it to her. So learners write Er gibt das Buch zu mir. German needs no preposition here, the case does the work: Er gibt mir das Buch. Zu mir is only right for movement towards a person: Komm zu mir! (Come over to me.) With a few verbs of sending and writing you can use an + accusative instead of the dative: Ich schreibe meinem Chef eine E-Mail and Ich schreibe eine E-Mail an meinen Chef are both correct. Zu meinem Chef is not.

"Ich helfe dich"

In English you help someone and thank someone with a plain object, so Ich helfe dich and Ich danke dich seem logical. Both verbs take the dative: Ich helfe dir. Ich danke dir. Ich helfe meiner Mutter. The same goes for folgen (Folg mir!) and antworten (Antworte mir bitte.).

"Ich gefalle das Buch" and "Ich fehle dich"

Gefallen does not mean to like; it means to be pleasing to. The thing you like is the subject and you are in the dative: Das Buch gefällt mir. Die Fotos gefallen mir (plural verb, because the photos are the subject). Fehlen works the same way and is even more confusing: Du fehlst mir means I miss you, literally you are missing to me. Ich mag das Buch is also correct.

"Ich bin kalt" instead of "Mir ist kalt"

I am cold becomes Mir ist kalt (or Mir ist warm, Mir ist schlecht for feeling sick). Ich bin kalt describes your body temperature to the touch or, worse, your personality.

"mit meine Freunde"

English has no case endings after with, so the ending gets dropped. After mit you need the dative, and in the plural the noun needs its -n: mit meinen Freunden, mit dem Bus, mit der U-Bahn. Learners who have just mastered the accusative also write mit den Bus; that is wrong too.

"for two years" with the wrong tense

I have lived here for two years is often translated as Ich habe hier für zwei Jahre gewohnt. German uses seit + dative and the present tense for something that is still going on: Ich wohne seit zwei Jahren in Salzburg. Note the -n in Jahren.

Word order: dative before accusative?

When a sentence has both a dative and an accusative object, three rules cover nearly every case:

• Two nouns: dative first, then accusative. Ich gebe dem Kellner das Geld.
• One pronoun and one noun: the pronoun comes first, whichever case it is. Ich gebe ihm das Geld. / Ich gebe es dem Kellner.
• Two pronouns: accusative first, then dative. Ich gebe es ihm.

Here English actually helps. I give the waiter the money has the same order as German, and I give it to him puts it before him, just like Ich gebe es ihm. The mistake to avoid is adding zu: not Ich gebe es zu ihm.

Exercise: practise the dative

Fill in the correct form. Careful: not every answer is dative.

1. Ich fahre mit ___ (der Zug) nach Zürich.
2. Kannst du ___ (ich) helfen?
3. Das Handy gehört ___ (meine Schwester).
4. Wir wohnen seit drei ___ (Jahre) in Wien.
5. Ich lege das Buch auf ___ (der Tisch).
6. Das Buch liegt auf ___ (der Tisch).
7. Ich rufe ___ (du) morgen an.
8. Translate: Can you send the photo to me?
9. Translate: I miss you.
10. Put in order: ihm / gebe / ich / es.

Answers

1. mit dem Zug (mit always takes the dative).
2. mir (helfen takes the dative).
3. meiner Schwester (gehören takes the dative; feminine ending -r).
4. Jahren (dative plural with -n).
5. den Tisch (accusative: movement, Wohin?).
6. dem Tisch (dative: position, Wo?).
7. dich (anrufen takes the accusative).
8. Kannst du mir das Foto schicken? (no zu; the dative does the job of "to me").
9. Du fehlst mir. (the person you miss is the subject).
10. Ich gebe es ihm. (two pronouns: accusative first).

If you got 5, 7 or 8 wrong, go back to two-way prepositions, the case of each verb and the "to me" trap.

At what level do you learn the dative?

In our courses you start using the dative in A1.2: first with prepositions such as mit, the pronouns mir and dir and verbs like gefallen and helfen. In A2 you consolidate it with two-way prepositions and the difference between Wo? and Wohin?, verbs with two objects and word order. The ÖSD, Goethe and telc exams at A2 and B1 all expect you to use these structures correctly in writing and speaking; if B1 is your goal, see our ÖSD B1 model test.

The dative sticks when you use it in real sentences and someone corrects you. Each sublevel has 30 hours of live classes and 30 hours of guided work on the learning platform, with two qualified teachers with DaF certification and an online tutor, in courses of up to 16 people. You can choose an extensive course (one 2.5-hour class per week, about 3 months per sublevel) or an intensive course (two or more classes per week, about 6 weeks per sublevel). If you are still deciding how to study, read our article on learning German online.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if a word is dative or accusative?

Ask the case question. If the word answers Wem? (to whom?), it is dative. If it answers Wen? or Was? (whom? what?), it is accusative: Ich gebe dem Kind (Wem?) den Ball (Was?). After a dative preposition such as mit, or with a dative verb such as helfen, it is always dative.

Which German prepositions always take the dative?

Aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von and zu, plus gegenüber and ab. The two-way prepositions (an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen) take the dative when they describe a location (Wo?) and the accusative when they describe movement towards a destination (Wohin?).

Which German verbs take the dative?

The ones you meet first at A1 and A2 are helfen, danken, gefallen, gehören, antworten, gratulieren, folgen, schmecken, passen, fehlen and wehtun. Learn each one in a short sentence: Ich helfe dir (I help you), Das gehört mir (That belongs to me).

How do you say "to me" in German?

Usually just mir, with no preposition: Kannst du mir das Foto schicken? (Can you send the photo to me?). Zu mir is only correct for movement towards a person or their home: Komm zu mir! (Come to me / Come to my place.)

Why is it "mit den Kindern" with an -n at the end?

In the dative plural the noun itself adds an -n: die Kinder becomes mit den Kindern. Nothing is added when the plural already ends in -n or -s (mit den Frauen, mit den Autos).

At what level do you learn the dative?

In our courses you start using the dative in A1.2, with prepositions like mit, the pronouns mir and dir, and verbs like gefallen. You consolidate it in A2 with two-way prepositions, verbs with two objects and word order.

Not sure whether to start at A1.2 or A2? Take our free placement test: it takes about 30 minutes and is assessed by ÖSD examiners. Start dates for all levels are on the all courses page.

About the author

Daniel is a political scientist, German language teacher and ÖSD examiner at Sprachzentrum Buenos Aires, the official ÖSD exam centre in Argentina. He has guided course participants from their first level to the exam for years and knows the typical questions and hurdles of learning German.

Sources

• Duden: Dativobjekt (for learners, in German)
• Goethe-Institut: Spickzettel Wechselpräpositionen (PDF, in German)