Der Dativ (Dative case)
A2 German grammar — Shopping. Dative marks the indirect object (the receiver). Articles and pronouns take new endings. Used after dative verbs (helfen…
Rule explained
Dative marks the indirect object (the receiver). Articles and pronouns take new endings. Used after dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen…) and dative prepositions (mit, nach, bei, von, zu, aus, seit).
Examples
Use these mini-pairs as templates:
- Ich helfe dem Mann. — I help the man.
- Sie gibt der Frau ein Buch. — She gives the woman a book.
- Wir wohnen bei den Eltern. — We live with the parents.
- Das Auto gehört mir. — The car belongs to me.
- Nach dem Essen gehen wir. — After dinner we leave.
Common mistakes
Watch out for these learner errors:
- Plural noun in dative gets an extra '-n': 'mit den Kindern'.
- After 'mit, nach, bei, von, zu, aus, seit' → ALWAYS dative.