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Dative Pronouns in German

This page is part of the step-by-step German learning A2 level course. To see the complete grammatical details of German pronouns, please visit the page German Pronouns under the section Summary of German Grammer.

This lesson contains topics:

1. Personal pronouns in the dative case
2. Sentence structure in the dative
3. Dative verbs
4. Demonstrative pronouns in dative case
   1. Declension of demonstrative pronoun "dies"
5. Possessive pronouns in dative case
6. Reflexive pronouns in dative case

German personal pronouns in the dative case

The German language more clearly identifies the indirect object than English. In English, personal pronouns for indirect objects (dative) are the same as for direct objects, i.e., me, you, her, him, it, us, and them, but in German, there is a further declension of pronouns. Personal pronouns in the dative case are:

Sentence structure in the dative case

In lesson 20 (Dative Case), we have already discussed the word order of nouns in the dative case, but we haven't discussed the word order of pronouns in the dative case. Pronouns follow a different word order in the dative. Please see the following three different situations:

1. If both the direct and indirect objects are nouns, the indirect object precedes the direct object.
   Ich bringe dem Mann einen Kuli. (I bring the man a pen.)
2. If one object is a noun and the other is a pronoun, then the pronoun precedes the noun.
   Ich bringe ihm einen Kuli. (I bring him a pen.)
   If we replace the noun "Kuli" (pen) with a pronoun:
   Ich bringe ihn dem Mann. (I bring it to the man.)
3. When both objects are pronouns, the direct object precedes the indirect object.
   Ich brigne ihn ihm. (I bring it to him.)

Dative verbs

(Verbs followed by the dative case)
There are certain verbs that are followed by just dative, for example:

antworten (to answer), Sie antworten mir bitte. (Please answer me.)
danken (to thank), Ich danke dir sehr. (I am so thankful to you.)
gefallen (to like), Dein Kuli gefällt mir. (I like your pen.)
gehören (belong), Dieses Auto gehört mir.(This car belongs to me. This car is mine.)
glauben (believe), Ich glaube euch. (I believe (all of) you.)
gratulieren (to congratulate), Ich gratuliere ihnen. (I congratulate you)
helfen (to help), Ich helfe dir. (I help you.)
passen (to fit, to suite), Diese Hose passt mir. (These pants fit me. These pants suits me.)
vertrauen ( to trust), Ich vertraue dir. (I trust you.)
schmecken (to taste), Das schmeckt gut. (This tastes good.)

German demonstrative pronouns in the dative case

German demonstrative pronouns are identical to definite articles, specifically "der," "die," and "das." Nonetheless, their meanings shift when employed as demonstrative pronouns. "Der," "die," and "das" now signify "that." In the dative case, which is the indirect objective case, the masculine demonstrative pronoun "der" and the neuter demonstrative pronoun "das" transform into "dem." The feminine pronoun changes to "der," while the plural becomes "denen." Notably, the plural demonstrative pronoun "denen" in the dative case differs from the plural definite article "den."

For demonstrative pronouns, we can use examples from lesson 20 (Dative Case) that we used for definite articles.

Ich gebe dem Mann ein Buch. (I give that man a book.)

Ich gebe dem Mädchen ein Buch. (I give that girl a book.)

Ich gebe der Studentin ein Buch. (I give that (female) student a book.)

Please note that the plural demonstrative pronoun in the dative case is "denen" and not "den".
Ich gebe denen Studenten die Bücher. (I give the books to those students.)

Declension of the demonstrative pronoun "dies"

Examples of the demonstrative pronoun "dies"

Bitte geben Sie diesen Männern die Bücher. (Please give these men the books.)
Please note the declension of the noun "die Männer" into "diesen Männern."
(der Mann plural: die Männer, das Buch plural: die Bücher)

Bitte gibst du dieser Frau zwei Bücher und einen Kuli. (Please give this woman two books and a pen.)

Ich erkläre diesem Mädchen alle Geschichte. (I tell this girl all the story.)
Ja, bitte erklären Sie ihr von a bis z. (Yes, please tell her from a to z.)
Please note that in the above example, the pronoun "ihr" is used for "das Mädchen" (the girl). "Das Mädchen" is a neuter noun in German, and the neuter personal pronoun in the dative case is "ihm." This situation may seem a bit perplexing. Nonetheless, when we visually observe "das Mädchen," it's evident that she is indeed a girl, and it wouldn't be appropriate to use a masculine pronoun to refer to her.

German possessive pronouns in the dative case

1. When a possessive pronoun comes before a masculine or neuter indirect object (masculine or neuter dative), the ending -em is added to the pronoun.
2. When a possessive pronoun comes before an indirect object (dative) that is a feminine noun, the ending -er is added to the pronoun.
3. When a possessive pronoun comes before an indirect object (dative) that is a plural noun, the ending -en is added to the pronoun.

Examples of German possessive pronouns in the dative case

Bitte geben Sie meiner Frau die Bücher. (Please give my wife the books.)

Bitte gibst du meinem Sohn zwei Bücher und einen Kuli. (Please give my son two books and a pen.)

Ich bringe heute euren Eltern ein Auto. (I bring a car to your parents today.)
"Euren Eltern" means your (plural) parents in the familiar form.

Ich bringe heute deinen Eltern ein Auto. (I bring a car to your parents today.)
"Deinen Eltern" means your (singular) parents in the familiar form.

Dieses Auto gehört Ihren Eltern. (This car belongs to your parents.)
"Ihren Eltern" means your (plural or singular) parents in the polite form.
jemandem gehören (belong to someone)

German reflexive pronouns

Examples of German reflexive pronouns

Ich war allein und verletzt. Ich musste mir helfen. (I was alone and hurt. I had to help myself.)
"Musste" is the past participle form of "muss" (modal verb müssen).
Ich bin allein und verletzt. Ich muss mir helfen. (I am alone and hurt. I have to help myself.)

Man muss sich selbst glauben. (One has to believe in oneself.)

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