Do you see it listed under in the declensions chart? So, we take traurig and put the declension onto it. In front of most declensions, we need to add an -e first.
Can you see with this example how it all fits together? How dem traurigen Hund is in the dative case, taking a strong declension on the determiner and a weak declension on the adjective as dictated by declension pattern 1?
Since this sentence fits in with declension pattern 2, we have no determiner — just an adjective traurigen. So we need to use the strong declension from the plural side of our declensions chart -n for our adjective traurig. Back to our adjective declension: traurig becomes traurigen. It just so happens the weak declension in the masculine dative and the strong declension in the plural dative are identical. In fact, if you look over the declensions chart again, you can see several declensions especially all the weak ones that are the same.
If you want more information on the many applications of the dative case, keep reading! For a quick summary of the most important features of the dative case, read the Main Takeaways below.
I also recommend you check out my Study Tips section! Ich helfe ihm I help him. Ich folge dir I follow you. I knew that already — Das war mir schon bewusst. A German formulation that is odd to English speakers how the dative case is used to talk about parts of the body or articles of clothing. For examples, in English we say I wash my hands. If we translate the German equivalent, it is I wash myself the hands.
Interesting, huh? Du hast dir ins Bein geschnitten! Note how similar formulations are used to talk about someone doing action for someone else , too. Then, I recommend practicing them by first writing some sample sentences and then trying to also use the dative case in conversation. The very best way to get used to all the different cases incl. You can develop an intuitive grasp for German, too!
This means listen to German music. Find music you can enjoy listening to a LOT. Let yourself use subtitles at least some of the time. The noun endings — s or — es are added - s for polysyllabic nouns, — es for monosyllabic.
Proper nouns have an added — s ending to indicate genitive case example: Deutschland s Kanzlerin , but if the proper noun already ends in s, then you will see no change in spelling.
Apostrophes are not used in German. Genitive Noun Chains In formal or scientific German you will sometimes encounter chains of genitive-case noun phrases which are straightforward to read, but can be awkward to translate into smooth English. The woman gives the book to the man. Feminine Der Mann gibt der Frau das Buch. Points to remember: dem and einem i. Dative plural always adds an — n to the plural form of the noun if one does not already exist, e. Following are a few examples of the accusative case: Der Mann streichelt den Hund.
The man pets the dog. Er streichelt ihn. He pets him, the dog. Den Hund streichelt der Mann. Streichelt der Mann den Hund? Is the man petting the dog? Streichelt den Hund der Mann? Take a look at the dative article forms to see if you can spot the differences: Typically, we use the dative case for indirect objects , which usually receive an action from the direct object in the accusative case.
For example: Ich subject schenke dir dative indirect object eine Blume accusative direct object. Eine Blume accusative direct object schenke ich subject dir dative indirect object. I'm subject giving you indirect object a flower direct object. For example: Das Haus meines Vater s My father's house. The genitive case is common in written German. Das Haus von meinem Vater My father's house.
The dative case often replaces the genitive case in spoken German. Overview Of The German Cases It's easier to choose the correct case when you're familiar with the changes of the definite der, die, das and indefinite articles ein, eine, ein. Resources Language Blog Podcast Testimonials. Yes Please No thanks. What is your current level in Turkish? Beginner Intermediate Advanced. Send me the tips! We will protect your data in accordance with our data policy.
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They're the lazy datives in this sentence. Don't feel bad if you find this really hard to wrap your head around. While the accusative and the nominative were fairly straightforward, the dative also tends to be harder to learn because the word that you usually associate with masculine , der , is now what we use for the feminine.
And the new word we just memorized for accusative , den , is now what we use for plural. It feels like you've gone to a dinner party, learned who everyone is, and then everyone decides to switch names just to mess with you.
It helps if you start listening to German conversations and reading German stories. It's one of those things where the more you see it, the more it will start to make sense.
But also just expect it to take some time to sink in, and don't beat yourself up if you don't "get" it straight away. Unfortunately, it's not really possible to just put German "cases" on the too hard pile and ignore them. If you do, you run the real risk of saying some odd things, like:.
It's worth taking the time to knuckle down and memorize the tables. Make yourself some flash cards. You'll get there! The dative case isn't just used for indirect objects or the things passively receiving something, or just hanging out lazily in a sentence.
Just like we saw when we talked about the accusative case , there are some connecting words prepositions that always indicate that the dative needs to be used for the next thing in the sentence. When you see any of these words, it means that it doesn't matter whether the next noun is a direct object, indirect object, or subject. It doesn't even matter. If it's following one of these words, it always needs to use the dative case. If you're having trouble remembering these dative prepositions, here's a video with a little ditty that will help.
Trust me! Home german Lessons german Stories Reviews. Lesson 1: Meet Jens — Your German language tour guide. Introductions, personal pronouns, formal vs informal address, and the important verb "to be". German nouns, noun genders, plural nouns, and all the different ways to say "the". Greetings, yes and no, please and thank you: The bare minimum you need to survive! The structure of regular verbs, and the important verb "to have".
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