German Dative Verbs and Pronouns: mir, dir, ihm, and the Verbs That Need Them
Every German pronoun has three forms, one for each job in the sentence. ich (I) is the subject, mich (me) is the direct object, and mir (to me) is the receiver. English has only two forms, "I" and "me", so "me" covers both object jobs.
The third form is the Dativ (dative), and a small group of common verbs always uses it, even where English uses a plain object. helfen (to help) is the clearest example: Ich helfe dir (I help you), never Ich helfe dich.
This post gives you the Dativ pronoun table, the verbs that need it, and the question Wem? (to whom?) that helps you find it.
Try it first
In each sentence, a pronoun or article is missing. The wrong options are the forms learners usually choose, and the feedback after each answer is the useful part.
Here is the pattern behind those answers.
What the Dativ is doing here
A pronoun changes its form according to its job in a sentence. The Nominativ (nominative) is the person or thing doing the action. The Akkusativ (accusative) is the person or thing the action happens to. The Dativ (dative) is often the receiver, the person something is done for or given to.
The useful question for Dativ is Wem? (to whom?). If you can ask "to whom?" about a person in the sentence, that person is often Dativ.
For the full picture of the German cases, read our German cases post. Prepositions such as mit (with) and zu (to) also force the Dativ, and our Dativ prepositions post covers those. This page is only about Dativ verbs and pronouns.
What are the Dativ pronouns in German?
Here are the three forms for every personal pronoun.
| Nominativ | Akkusativ | Dativ |
|---|---|---|
| ich (I) | mich (me) | mir (to me) |
| du (you, one friend) | dich | dir |
| er (he) | ihn (him) | ihm (to him) |
| sie (she) | sie (her) | ihr (to her) |
| es (it) | es | ihm |
| wir (we) | uns (us) | uns |
| ihr (you, a group of friends) | euch | euch |
| sie (they) | sie (them) | ihnen (to them) |
| Sie (you, formal) | Sie | Ihnen |
Two forms stay the same: uns and euch do not change between Akkusativ and Dativ. The pairs you need to learn are mich/mir, dich/dir, ihn/ihm, sie/ihr for "her", and sie/ihnen for "them".
For example, Kannst du mir helfen? (Can you help me?) uses mir. But Er sieht mich (He sees me) uses mich. The verb decides which form you need.
Be careful with ihr. It can mean "to her" in Dativ, or "you all" in Nominativ. Only the sentence tells you which meaning it has: Ich helfe ihr (I help her), but Ihr helft mir (You all help me).
Formal Ihnen always has a capital I. Lowercase ihnen means "to them": Ich danke Ihnen (Thank you, formal), but Das Kind winkt ihnen (The child waves to them).
Which German verbs always take the Dativ?
These are the German Dativ verbs that cause the common mich versus mir mistake. In English, "help me" and "see me" look the same. In German, the verbs use different cases.
| Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| helfen | to help | Ich helfe dir. (I help you.) |
| danken | to thank | Wir danken euch. (We thank you all.) |
| gratulieren | to congratulate | Wir gratulieren dir zum Geburtstag. (Happy birthday to you.) |
| antworten | to answer someone | Antwortest du ihm? (Are you answering him?) |
| zuhören | to listen to someone | Hör mir bitte zu. (Please listen to me.) |
| folgen | to follow | Folgen Sie mir. (Follow me, formal.) |
| glauben | to believe someone | Ich glaube dir. (I believe you.) |
| winken | to wave to someone | Das Kind winkt ihnen. (The child waves to them.) |
These verbs take a person as their object, the same as in English, but German marks that person with the Dativ.
So you say Ich helfe ihr (I help her), Ich helfe euch (I help you all), and Ich danke Ihnen (Thank you, formal).
Notice that zuhören is separable. In a normal sentence, zu moves to the end: Die Kinder hören der Lehrerin zu (The children listen to the teacher).
Which Dativ verbs turn the sentence around?
Some Dativ verbs feel backwards because the thing is the subject, and the person is Dativ. English says "I like the city." German says Die Stadt gefällt mir (I like the city. Literally: the city pleases me).
This is the key to gefallen (to please, to be pleasing to). You are not the subject. The film, city, jacket, or song is the subject.
| Verb | Literal meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| gefallen | to please, to be pleasing to | Die Stadt gefällt mir. (I like the city. Literally: the city pleases me.) |
| gehören | to belong to | Das Fahrrad gehört meinem Bruder. (The bike belongs to my brother.) |
| schmecken | to taste good to | Der Kaffee schmeckt mir. (I like the coffee. Literally: the coffee tastes good to me.) |
| passen | to fit, to suit | Die Jacke passt ihm nicht. (The jacket doesn't fit him.) |
| fehlen | to be missing to | Du fehlst mir. (I miss you. Literally: you are missing to me.) |
| wehtun | to hurt | Mir tut der Kopf weh. (My head hurts. Literally: the head hurts to me.) |
| stehen | to suit, for clothes | Die Farbe steht dir. (The colour suits you.) |
Because the thing is the subject, the verb agrees with the thing, not with you. Die Schuhe gefallen mir (I like the shoes) is correct because die Schuhe is plural. Die Schuhe gefällt mir is wrong.
The same pattern works in questions: Gefällt dir das Lied? (Do you like the song?) and Ja, es gefällt mir sehr (Yes, I like it a lot).
Use gefallen for things you find nice, such as a film or a jacket. Use schmecken for food and drink: Schmeckt es euch? (Do you all like it?).
With wehtun, weh moves to the end because the verb is separable. You can say Tut es dir weh? (Does it hurt?) or Mir tun die Füße weh (My feet hurt).
Which Dativ phrases do you already use?
You have probably said some Dativ phrases without knowing they use Dativ. The mir in these phrases is exactly the same mir as in Hilf mir (Help me).
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Wie geht es dir? (How are you?) Mir geht es gut. (I'm fine.)
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Es tut mir leid. (I'm sorry.)
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Das ist mir egal. (I don't care.)
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Das ist mir wichtig. (That's important to me.)
-
Was ist dir passiert? (What happened to you?)
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Mir fällt der Name nicht ein. (I can't think of the name. Literally: the name doesn't come to me.)
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Das ist mir zu teuer. (That's too expensive for me.)
In Mir geht es gut, the subject is es (it). You are the person the situation is going well for, so German uses Dativ.
How do verbs with a person and a thing work?
Some verbs have two objects. The person is Dativ, and the thing is Akkusativ. This includes geben (to give), schenken (to give as a present), zeigen (to show), schicken (to send), bringen (to bring), erklären (to explain), kaufen (to buy for someone), and empfehlen (to recommend).
Use two questions to split the sentence:
Ich habe meiner Mutter einen Schal geschenkt. (I gave my mother a scarf.)
Wem? (to whom?) finds meiner Mutter (my mother), so that is Dativ. Was? (what?) finds einen Schal (a scarf), so that is Akkusativ.
You can see the same pattern in Kannst du mir das Salz geben? (Can you give me the salt?), Ich zeige euch die Fotos (I'll show you the photos), and Er erklärt uns die Regel (He explains the rule to us).
When the thing is a noun, the Dativ person usually comes first: Ich gebe ihm das Buch (I give him the book). You can also use a noun: Ich gebe dem Kind das Buch (I give the child the book).
When both objects are pronouns, the Akkusativ pronoun comes first: Ich gebe es ihm (I give it to him). Another example is Ich zeige sie dir (I'll show them to you).
How do Dativ articles change?
The same verbs need Dativ articles when the receiver is a noun rather than a pronoun. Here are the forms you need most often.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | der | die | das | die |
| Dativ | dem | der | dem | den |
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | ein / kein | eine / keine | ein / kein | no plural of ein / keine |
| Dativ | einem / keinem | einer / keiner | einem / keinem | no plural of ein / keinen |
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominativ | mein | meine | mein | meine |
| Dativ | meinem | meiner | meinem | meinen |
Dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, and formal Ihr use the same endings as mein. Masculine and neuter Dativ end in -em, feminine ends in -er, and plural ends in -en.
For example: Ich helfe dem Mann (I help the man), Das Auto gehört der Frau (The car belongs to the woman), and Ich helfe einem Freund (I help a friend).
Plural Dativ nouns also add -n unless their plural already ends in -n or -s: Wir danken den Lehrern (We thank the teachers), but den Frauen (to the women) and den Autos (to the cars) do not change further.
Mistakes English speakers make
Using mich or dich after helfen and danken
Wrong: Ich helfe dich.
Right: Ich helfe dir. (I help you.)
Why: helfen always takes Dativ. The same is true for danken: Ich danke Ihnen (Thank you, formal), not Ich danke Sie.
Making yourself the subject of gefallen
Wrong: Ich gefalle den Film.
Right: Der Film gefällt mir. (I like the film.)
Why: with gefallen, the thing is the subject and you are the receiver.
Forgetting that gefallen agrees with the thing
Wrong: Die Schuhe gefällt mir.
Right: Die Schuhe gefallen mir. (I like the shoes.)
Why: die Schuhe is plural, so the verb is gefallen.
Translating "I'm fine" as Ich bin gut
Wrong: Ich bin gut.
Right: Mir geht es gut. (I'm fine.)
Why: Ich bin gut means "I am good" or "I am good at something." When you mean that you feel fine, German uses Dativ.
Using sie for "her" after a Dativ verb
Wrong: Ich helfe sie.
Right: Ich helfe ihr. (I help her.)
Why: sie is Akkusativ "her". After a Dativ verb, "to her" is ihr.
How can you learn Dativ verbs without memorising a list?
Learn each Dativ verb with a pronoun as one chunk. Learn helfen + mir, danken + dir, and gefallen + mir, rather than learning only the verb. The pronoun carries the case with it.
When you meet a new verb, ask whether it uses Wen? (whom?) or Wem? (to whom?). If you are unsure, look at an example sentence in a dictionary and check which pronoun it uses.
The flipped verbs are easier when you see their shared idea. Gefallen, schmecken, passen, fehlen, wehtun, and stehen describe how something is for a person. The person is receiving that experience, so the person is Dativ.
You do not need a huge list at A1 and A2. Practice the verbs on this page in full sentences until mir, dir, ihm, and ihr start to sound natural.
What should you do next?
Run the quiz at the top again until choosing mir instead of mich feels fast. Then use the flashcard deck to practice the verb list in short sessions.
Once these verbs feel comfortable, play the Dativ Prepositions game. Prepositions such as mit and zu are the other big source of Dativ in everyday German, and they use the same pronouns and articles you practiced here.