Dative Case

01

Definite and Indefinite Articles

When a noun is in the Dative case, its article changes. This signals the function of the noun in the sentence.

Masculine and Neuter

Both masculine (der) and neuter (das) nouns change their definite article to dem. The indefinite article (ein) changes to einem.

• Das Spielzeug gehört dem Kind.

  The toy belongs to the child.

• Sie schreibt einem Freund.

  She is writing to a friend.

Feminine

Feminine nouns change the definite article die to der. Note that this looks identical to the masculine nominative article, so context is key. The indefinite article eine changes to einer.

• Wir helfen der Frau.

  We are helping the woman.

• Er wohnt bei einer Tante.

  He lives with an aunt.

Plural

In the plural, the definite article die changes to den. There is no indefinite article in the plural, but possessive articles (like meine) would change to end in -en (e.g., meinen).

• Ich danke den Lehrern.

  I thank the teachers.

02

Noun Endings in the Plural

In addition to the article changing to den, the noun itself often changes in the Dative plural. You must add an -n or -en to the end of the noun, unless the plural form already ends in -n or -s.

• Plural ends in -e: Add -n (e.g., die Tische becomes den Tischen).
• Plural ends in -er: Add -n (e.g., die Kinder becomes den Kindern).
• Plural ends in -s: No change (e.g., den Autos).
• Plural ends in -n: No change (e.g., den Frauen).

• Wir spielen mit den Kindern.

  We are playing with the children.

• Das Essen schmeckt den Gästen.

  The food tastes good to the guests.

03

Personal Pronouns

Just as articles change, personal pronouns have specific forms in the Dative case. These are used when the pronoun is the indirect object or follows a Dative preposition.

• ich becomes mir (to me)
• du becomes dir (to you)
• er / es becomes ihm (to him/it)
• sie becomes ihr (to her)
• wir becomes uns (to us)
• ihr becomes euch (to you plural)
• sie / Sie becomes ihnen / Ihnen (to them / to You formal)

• Kannst du mir helfen?

  Can you help me?

• Ich gebe ihm den Schlüssel.

  I give him the key.

• Wie geht es Ihnen?

  How are you? (formal)

04

Dative Prepositions

Certain prepositions always require the noun or pronoun following them to be in the Dative case, regardless of the verb used. The most common ones are: aus, außer, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, and zu.

• Ich fahre mit dem Zug.

  I am traveling by train.

• Er kommt aus der Schweiz.

  He comes from Switzerland.

• Wir gehen zu meinen Eltern.

  We are going to my parents' house.

05

Location vs. Motion (Two-Way Prepositions)

There is a group of "two-way prepositions" (such as in, an, auf, unter, vor) that can take either the Dative or the Accusative.

• Use Dative when describing a fixed location or position (answering "Where?" / Wo?).
• Use Accusative when describing movement or direction towards a place (answering "Where to?" / Wohin?).

• Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch.

  The book is lying on the table. (Location: Dative)

• Ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch.

  I put the book onto the table. (Movement: Accusative)

• Wir sind im Kino.

  im is a contraction of in dem

06

Dative Verbs

Some verbs in German always take a Dative object, even if the logic of "giving to someone" does not seem to apply. In these cases, the object is simply grammatically Dative. Common examples include helfen (to help), danken (to thank), folgen (to follow), gefallen (to please/like), and gehören (to belong).

• Ich danke dir.

  I thank you.

• Das Auto gehört mir.

  The car belongs to me.

• Die Jacke gefällt der Frau.

  The woman likes the jacket. (Literally: The jacket pleases the woman.)