Nouns, cases and negation
Dative: selected verbs and recipients
Dative articles: masculine dem/einem, feminine der/einer, neuter dem/einem, plural den.
Many dative plural nouns additionally take -n if the plural does not already end in n or s: mit den Kindern, but mit den Eltern and mit den Autos.
Some verbs simply require a dative object: helfen, danken, gefallen, gehören, passen. Learn this with the verb.
In common giving constructions, the recipient is dative and the thing given is accusative: Ich gebe dem Mann den Schlüssel. The “to whom?” English/Hindi cue helps with recipients, but does not predict every German dative verb.
- Example
- Das Buch gehört meiner Schwester. Ich helfe meinem Bruder.
- English
- The book belongs to my sister. I help my brother.
- Hinglish
- Yeh kitaab meri behen ki hai. Main apne bhai ki madad karta hoon.
Worked example
Ich gebe der Frau einen Schlüssel. = I give the woman a key.
Hinglish: Main mahila ko ek chaabi deta hoon.
Recipient: der Frau; thing: einen Schlüssel.