der Dativ case

 

 der Dativ

The dative case is used to describe the indirect object of a sentence. The indirect object is the recipient of the direct object. In addition to changes in the article, plural nouns also receive an -n suffix (except for nouns that already end in an -n).

 

	NOMINAITV	AKKUSATIV	DATIV
Gender	DEF.    INDEF.	DEF.    INDEF	DEF.    INDEF
Maskulin	der           ein	den        einen	dem
Fememin	die         eine	die         eine
Neutral	das          ein	das          ein
Plural	die           -	die            -

 

 

Reference with audio on: www.coerll.utexas.edu 

 

	the	a/an	none
masculine	dem Mann	einem Mann	keinem Mann	(man)
feminine	der Frau	einer Frau	keiner Frau	(woman)
neuter	dem Kind	einem Kind	keinem Kind	(child)
plural	den Kleidern	Kleidern	keinen Kleidern	(clothes)

Please note that plural nouns also get an -n suffix, unless they already end in an -n:

 

Reference with audio on: www.coerll.utexas.edu 

Need -n
die Kinder	=>	den Kindern	(children)
die Männer	=>	den Männern	(men)
die Taler	=>	den Talern	(old coins)
die Sterne	=>	den Sternen	(stars)
Don't need -n
die Eltern	=>	den Eltern	(parents)
die Mädchen	=>	den Mädchen	(little girls)
die Frauen	=>	den Frauen	(women)
die Prinzen	=>	den Prinzen	(princes)

 

Comparing how the noun changes in der Dativ VS Akkusativ

 

 

​	Dativ	Akkusativ
Ich zeige I show	dem Mann	den Supermarkt.
Ich zeige I show	der Frau	die Buchhandlung.
Ich zeige I show	dem Kind	das Kino.
Ich zeige I show	den Kindern	die Museen.

 

Remember: we use the dative for indirect objects, mostly other people playing an indirect role in our actions, usually receiving something.

* Nota Bene: although in English 'little girl' is referred to as 'she,' in German the word 'Mädchen' is grammatically neutral, so the possessive pronoun has to be 'sein' (its). Right now, there are more and more people who would refer to Mädchen as 'sie' (she, her), especially among young people, since they find it insulting to talk about females as 'it.' Nevertheless, in formal writing, if the pronoun appears in the same sentence as the word 'Mädchen,' it should be neuter ('es' 'sein', usu.). However, please note that the native speaker narrator used 'ihre Großzügigkeit' in the last sentence instead of 'seine '...