B1 · The four cases
Two objects in one sentence
wer gibt wem was
The person is dative and the thing is accusative — and which comes first depends on whether they are nouns or pronouns.
A small group of verbs takes two objects at once: geben, zeigen, schicken, bringen, erklären, schenken, leihen, empfehlen. The person receiving stands in the dative and the thing given in the accusative, and it is the cases that keep them apart rather than their position.
That said, the order is not free. With two nouns the dative comes first: ich gebe dem Kind den Ball. With two pronouns the accusative comes first: ich gebe es ihm. With one of each, the pronoun goes first whatever its case: ich gebe es dem Kind, ich gebe ihm den Ball.
The three rules look like three rules and are one principle: what the listener already has goes early, what is new goes late. A pronoun refers to something already mentioned, so it leads; a full noun carries news, so it waits. Learning the principle costs less than learning the table.
Die Form
| two nouns | Ich gebe dem Kind den Ball. |
| two pronouns | Ich gebe es ihm. |
| pronoun and noun | Ich gebe es dem Kind. |
| noun and pronoun | Ich gebe ihm den Ball. |
| question | Wem gibst du was? |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
The person is dative and the thing is accusative.
Sie hat mir das Buch geliehen.She lent me the book.
Two nouns: dative first.
Er zeigt dem Kunden das Angebot.He shows the customer the offer.
Two pronouns: accusative first.
Er zeigt es ihm.He shows it to him.
One of each: the pronoun goes first.
Er zeigt es dem Kunden.He shows it to the customer.
Genauer hingesehen
Why German does not need the English "to"
English marks the indirect object either by position — "I gave the child the ball" — or by a preposition — "I gave the ball to the child". German needs neither, because the case does the work: dem Kind can only be the receiver, wherever it stands.
That is why German can move the two objects around for emphasis and English cannot. Den Ball habe ich dem Kind gegeben puts the ball in focus and stays unambiguous; the English word-for-word equivalent would be unreadable. It is the clearest small demonstration of what the case system buys.
Ausnahmen und Sonderfälle (2)
-
the verb takes only a dative — helfen, danken, folgen, gratulieren
there is no second object and no order to decide.
Ich danke dir für die Hilfe.Thank you for the help.
These verbs describe something happening to a person rather than something given to them.
-
the thing given is a whole clause
the dative object stays and the clause follows after a comma.
Ich habe ihr gesagt, dass wir später kommen.I told her that we are coming later.
A clause cannot sit inside the middle field, so it goes to the end where a subordinate clause belongs.
Woran man es erkennt
- geben
- zeigen
- schicken
- erklären
- mir
- dir
- ihm
- es
Beispielsätze
Kannst du mir das erklären?Can you explain that to me?
Ich schicke dir die Adresse gleich.I will send you the address in a moment.
Sie hat es ihm gestern gesagt.She told him yesterday.
Wir haben den Kindern ein Buch geschenkt.We gave the children a book.
Zeig es mir bitte noch einmal.Show it to me again, please.
Noch 8 Beispielsätze
Er hat mir das Auto geliehen.He lent me the car.
Bring ihr bitte einen Kaffee mit.Bring her a coffee, please.
Ich habe es ihnen schon erklärt.I have already explained it to them.
Sie empfiehlt uns ein anderes Hotel.She recommends another hotel to us.
Wer hat dir das gesagt?Who told you that?
Ich schicke es Ihnen per Mail.I will send it to you by email.
Zeigen Sie mir bitte Ihren Ausweis.Please show me your ID.
Das hat uns niemand gesagt.Nobody told us that.
Besonderheiten (2)
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The dative object is often the most important word
German speakers front the dative pronoun constantly: <z>Mir hat das niemand gesagt</z> — "nobody told *me* that". Because the case is marked, the pronoun can go first without confusing anybody, and it carries a stress English needs italics or a cleft sentence for.
Mir hat das niemand gesagt.Nobody told me that.
-
The list of two-object verbs is short
Roughly a dozen verbs come up daily: <z>geben, zeigen, schicken, bringen, erklären, sagen, schenken, leihen, empfehlen, anbieten, versprechen, beantworten</z>. Every one of them is about handing something over, literally or otherwise, which makes the group easy to recognise even before it is learned.
Er hat mir eine Stelle angeboten.He offered me a job.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
With two pronouns the order flips: the accusative comes first. This is the one place where the pattern reverses, and it reverses for a reason — the accusative pronoun is shorter and more tightly bound to the verb. English has the same instinct in "give it to him" against "give him the ball", and German makes it a rule.
Nouns: dative first. Pronouns: accusative first.
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