German Grammar Explained /
Dative verbs
Do you know how ambiguous the sentence I'm hot. is in English?
Not in my case, hehe.
You are always so humble. In German, because of the wonderful dative, that expression would never be misunderstood.
Ich bin heiß.
I'm hot (sexy).
Mir ist heiß.
I'm hot (warm).
The second sentence literally means It is hot to me. Remember, we use the dative for indirect objects and this often translates to English as "to me/you/her/...". Please, bear in mind this is not always the case, and no, it is not always clear why.
We know declensions can be overwhelming and understanding the difference between accusative and dative is especially hard.
Therefore:
If you are not one for grammar concepts, don't worry! We have a list here of the top 10 most common verbs that use dative in German!
gefallen → Das gefällt mir. (I like that.)
helfen → Sie hilft ihm. (She helps him.)
schmecken → Pizza schmeckt ihr nicht. (She doesn't like the taste of pizza.)
glauben → Sie glaubt ihm nicht. (She doesn't believe him.)
geben → Er hat ihr einen Goldring gegeben. (He gave her a gold ring.)
gehören → Das gehört mir. (That belongs to me.)
weh tun → Mir tun die Augen weh. (My eyes hurt.)
danken → Ich danke dir für alles. (I thank you for everything.)
passieren → Das passiert mir immer. (That always happens to me.)
fehlen → Mir fehlen die Wörter. (I have no words.)
Remember to use the dative with these verbs and you will avoid some of the most common mistakes.
What are the typical things you hear students say?
Ich bin/geht gut. | → | Mir geht's gut. |
Ich helfe dich. | → | Ich helfe dir. |
Ich gebe dich meine Telefonnummer. | → | Ich gebe dir meine Telefonnummer. |
Ich gefalle diese Stadt. | → | Mir gefällt diese Stadt. |
Overview: all singular personal pronouns
Nominative | Accusative | Dative |
|---|---|---|
ich | mich | mir |
du | dich | dir |
er | ihn | ihm |
sie | sie | ihr |
es | es | ihm |