Hello again. Today my puppets and I will teach you the definite and indefinite articles with the dative case.
We will also teach you how one uses these articles with indirect objects and prepositions and verbs that take the dative case.
Don't forget to turn on the subtitles and annotations. Let's start.
In the white room. With black curtains. At the station.
This is what English sounds like. Woo hoo!
I like trains.
A: DER FRAU!!! DER FRAU!!! (The woman!!! The woman!!!)
That makes no sense. This language is too difficult.
I will never understand German.
I'm hyperventilating. Help!
Calm down. What it the problem? How can I help you?
I have to learn German, but it makes no sense.
“Frau” is feminine.
Feminine things use the definite article "die".
Here is says "der Frau".
But "der" is used with masculine things.
Why is it like that?
What is the entire sentence?
A: Der Mann gibt der Frau das Geschenk. (The man gives the woman the gift.)
Oh. That is simple. "Der Frau" is in the dative case.
What is dative?
You know what the accusative case is, right?
Yes. I know that.
One uses the accusative with direct objects and with prepositions that use the accusative case.
These prepositions are: bis, entlang, für, um, durch, ohne und gegen.
A direct object is what one does, what one hits, what one eats, what one hates and so on.
Yes. That is correct.
The nominative case is the first case.
The accusative case is the fourth case.
The dative case is the third case.
You left out the second case.
Yes. The second case is the genitive case. We will talk about that later.
As you know, one uses the subject in the nominative case.
The definite articles for that are "der", "die", "das", and "die", masculine, feminine, neuter and plural.
The definite articles in the accusative case are:
“den”, “die”, “das”, “die”, masculine, feminine, neuter and plural.
Now we have the dative case.
The definite articles in the dative case are:
“dem”, “der”, “dem”, “den”, masculine, feminine, neuter and plural.
The plural has another anomoly.
One must use an "n" at the end of the noun.
I don't understand.
Perhaps it would be better with some examples.
We begin with masculine nouns.
Der Mann gibt dem Jungen den Ball. (The man gives the boy the ball.)
The man is the subject. It is in the nominative case.
The ball is the direct object.
It is that which the man is giving.
The boy is the indirect object.
He is to whom the man gives the ball.
Now an example with feminine nouns.
Die Frau schenkt der Kellnerin die Halskette. (The woman gives the waitress a necklace.)
The woman is the subject. It is in the nominative case.
The necklace is the direct object. It is what the woman is giving.
The waitress is the indirect object. She is to whom the woman is giving the necklace.
Now an example with neuter nouns.
Das Mädchen bringt dem Tier das Spielzeug. (The girl brings the animal the toy.)
The girl is the subject.
It is in the nominative case.
The toy is the direct object.
It is what the girl brings.
The animal is the indirect object.
It is to whom the girl brings the toy.
Now an example with plural nouns.
Die Leute verkaufen den Kindern die Schuhe. (The people sell the children the shoes.)
The people are the subjects.
They are in the nominative case.
The shoes are the direct objects.
They are what the people are selling.
The children are the indirect object.
They are to whom the people are selling the shoes.
Ok. That isn't so difficult.
In order to ask about the subject, one asks, "who or what is doing something in the sentence?"
In order to ask about the direct object, one can ask,
"who or what one gives, one has, one gives, one eats, one sells and so on?"
In order to ask about the indirect object, one can ask, "who or what is receiving the direct object?"
Another way to say it is "to whom or what does one bring something?"
Yes. Exactly.
How is it with the indefinite articles?
It is similar. The indefinite articles in nominative are "ein", "eine", "ein", and "keine", masculine, feminine, neuter and plural.
Don't forget that one can use the possessive pronouns and "keine" with the plural.
In the accusative case the indefinite articles are "einen", "eine", "ein", and "keine", masculine, feminine, neuter and plural.
In the dative case they are "einem", "einer", einem", and "keinen", masculine, feminine, neuter and plural.
Can you give me a few examples of that?
Yes. Of course. I will give the same examples as before with the definite articles, but this time I will say them with the indefinite articles.
Ein Mann gibt einem Jungen einen Ball. (A man gives a boy a ball.)
Eine Frau schenkt einer Kellnerin eine Halskette. (A woman gives a waitress a necklace.)
Ein Mädchen bringt einem Tier ein Spielzeug. (A girl brings an animal a toy.)
Meine Leute verkaufen deinen Kindern seine Schuhe. (My people sell your children his shoes.)
That is also quite simple.
Are there prepositions that use the dative case?
Yes. There are a lot. The prepositions that use the dative case are: aus, außer, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, and zu.
There are other prepositions that use either the dative or accusative cases, but I believe we can talk about them later.
For today the prepositions with the dative case will suffice.
And the examples for that?
B: Der Mann faucht Bienen aus seinem Mund. (The man spits bees out of his mouth.)
Außer einer Schwester habe ich auch noch einen Bruder. (Besides a sister, I also have a brother.)
Deine Mutter erschießt beim (bei dem) Bäcker einen Dieb. (Your mother is shooting a thief at the baker's.)
Ich gehe heute Abend mit deiner Schwester aus. (I am going out with your sister this evening.)
Nach dem Film gehen wir zum (zu dem) Einkaufszentrum. (After the film we are going to the shopping center.)
Seit einem Jahr arbeite ich hier. (I have worked here since a year ago.)
Hier ist ein Brief von deinem Vater. (Here is a letter from your father.)
That is also very simple. Why did I flip out? The dative case is not so difficult.
We aren't done yet.
What?
We have talked about indirect objects, and prepositions with the dative case. What else is there?
There are also verbs that take the dative case.
That doesn't make any sense.
Sure it does. There are certain verbs that only take the nominative case.
For example: sein, werden, heißen, und bleiben.
Ich bin ein Mann. Er wird ein Schmetterling. Sie heißt Sarah. Wir bleiben Menschen. (I am a man. He becomes a butterfly. She is called Sarah. We remain people.)
In these sentences there are two words in the nominative case.
Most verbs need an object in the nominative case and accusative case even if there is also an object in the dative case.
For example: Ich habe einen Hund. (I have a dog.)
Gibst du dem Mann etwas Geld? Er kauft seiner Mutter ein Kleid. (Are you giving the man some money? He is buying his mother a dress.)
Some verbs don't take an accusative object. They only take a dative object.
Antworten, begegnen, danken, dienen, fehlen, folgen, gefallen, gehören, glauben, helfen, and passen are a few of them.
What one would normally identify as a direct object is a dative object in these sentences.
A: Huh?
B: For example: Antworte dem Polizist! (Answer the police officer!)
Hänsel und Gretel begegnen der Hexe. (Hänsel and Gretel are meeting the witch.)
Ich danke dem Verkäufer. (I thank the salesman.)
Der Kellner dient dem Kunden. (The waiter serves the customers.)
Die Antwort fehlt der Studentin. (The students lack the answer.) *Word order is backwards from what the English translation is.*
Der Hund folgt dem Mann. (The dog follows the man.)
Dieses Hemd gefällt dem Kunden nicht. (This shirt is not pleasing to the customer.)
Das Pfefferkuchenhaus gehört der Hexe. (The ginderbread house belongs to the witch.)
Ich glaube dem Politiker nicht. (I don't believe the politician.)
Hilfst du den Armen? (Do you help the poor?)
Die Schuhe passen dem Mann. (The shoes fit the man.)
Hmmm. That is a bit more difficult. I believe, I must practice the dative case.
Practice makes perfect.
Thanks for your help.
I hope this video helped. Thanks for watching. Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe. Until next time. Bye.