Personalpronomen im Dativ

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What is the Dativ Case?

In English, we say: “I give the book to you.”

In German, we do not need the word “to”. Instead, we change the pronoun.

The Dativ usually shows who receives something in a sentence.

The A1 Dativ Pronoun List

Here is an easy table to help you learn the words.

English German (Nominativ) German (Dativ) Example Sentence
me / to me ich mir Er hilft mir. (He helps me.)
you / to you (informal) du dir Ich gebe dir das Buch. (I give you the book.)
him / to him er ihm Das Auto gehört ihm. (The car belongs to him.)
her / to her sie ihr Du schenkst ihr Blumen. (You give her flowers.)
it / to it es ihm Das Kind ist klein. Ich helfe ihm. (I help it.)
us / to us wir uns Wie geht es uns? (How are we doing?)
you all / to you all ihr euch Ich danke euch. (I thank you all.)
them / to them sie ihnen Das Haus gehört ihnen. (The house belongs to them.)
You / to You (formal) Sie Ihnen Wie geht es Ihnen? (How are you?)

3 Important Verbs for Dativ

Some German verbs always use the Dativ case. You should memorize these three verbs first:

  1. helfen (to help) -> Er hilft ihm. (He helps him.)

  2. geben (to give) -> Ich gebe dir einen Kaffee. (I give you a coffee.)

  3. danken (to thank) -> Ich danke Ihnen. (I thank You.)

Daily Grammar Tip: “Wie geht es dir?”

You probably already know a Dativ sentence! When you ask “Wie geht es dir?” (How are you?), the word dir is the Dativ form of du. If you want to answer “I am fine”, you say: “Es geht mir gut.” (literally: It goes well to me).

Easy Practice Quiz

Can you fill in the blank? (Answer with mir or dir)

  • “Hallo Max! Wie geht es ______?”

  • “Super, danke! Es geht ______ gut.”

(Answers: dir / mir)

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