DATIVE CASE
THE FORMS
(A) FOR "der" AND "der words"
| CASE | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
| NOM | der | die | das | die |
| DAT | dem | der | dem | den + N added to the noun |
NOTICE THAT THE FEMININE DATIVE SINGULAR LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THE MASCULINE NOMINATIVE SINGULAR
(B) FOR "ein" AND "ein words"
| CASE | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
| NOM | ein | eine | ein | keine |
| DAT | einem | einer | einem | keinen + N added to noun |
FOR PRONOUNS
| CASE | I | You (singular) (familiar) |
He | She | It | We | You (plural) (familiar) |
They | You (polite) (singular and plural) |
| NOM | ich | du | er | sie | es | wir | Ihr | sie | Sie |
| DAT | mir | dir | ihm | ihr | ihm | uns | euch | ihnen | Ihnen |
USES:
(I) Indirect object
(II) With certain prepositions
(III) With certain verbs
(IV) to indicate place where (as opposed to place to which something is moved)
Each of these is discussed in the section below.
Part I: Indirect Objects
How to translate a complete sentence
First decided on which words go in which case.
The indirect object occurs usually when there are three nouns in the sentence: A subject, a direct object and the indirect object.
After locating the subject, there will be two nouns and or pronouns left. The one preceded by "to" or "for" is the indirect object. If neither is, reverse the order and the one that then is preceded by the "to" is the indirect object.
Example 1.
The woman gives the child a pencil.
The woman is the subject so either the child or the book must be the indirect object. Reverse the order of the two nouns and you get:
The woman gives the book to the child.
. Therefore the indirect object is the child.
Example II.
The man gives me the book.
The subject is "The man" Reversing the next two nouns/pronouns The man gives the book to me. "to me" is the indirect object.
HOW TO TRANSLATE A WHOLE SENTENCE
First find the subject: Change a noun to "I" and see if the ending on the verb changes. If it does the noun changed is the subject: The woman gives the child a pencil => I give the child a pencil. Since "gives" => "give" then "The woman" is the subject. Next, find the direct and indirect object. (See above).
We can now indicate the cases of the nouns
Add the correct words: The order is now:Put the nous in the proper cases: The translation is now complete.
PART II: Prepositions Requiring the Dative Case
Preposition that require the dative:
Examples:
She came with the man
PART III: Verbs Requiring the Dative
With verbs requiring the dative case. Here are some of them:
Examples:
PART IV: Dative of Place Where
The dative is used to indicate where something is - as opposed to where it is being placed which requires the accusative case. .
Prepositions which can occur with the dative OR the accusative are:
an
auf
hinter
in
neben
über
unter
vor
zwischen
The boy is standing between the men.
Der Knabe steht zwischen DEN MännerN
This indicates where the boy is.
The boy walks between the men.
Der Knabe geht zwischen DIE Männer
This indicates the moved between the men.
Compare:
Das Bild hängt an der Wand
The picture hangs on the wall.
Er hängt das Bild an die Wand
He hangs the picture on the wall.