Dative Case
संप्रदान कारक (Dative Case)
The dative case marks the indirect object — the person something is given, told, or shown to. Hindi does this with a postposition; German changes the article itself.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
The dative marks the indirect object — the same feel as Hindi's को
Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch. (I give the book to the man — der → dem)
मैं आदमी को किताब देता हूँ।
Hindi's "आदमी को" adds a postposition to mark the indirect object, without changing the noun itself. German instead changes the article: der → dem, die → der, das → dem, and plural die → den (with the noun itself also adding -n: die Kinder → den Kindern). Notice: Hindi's को covers both the accusative (कुत्ते को देखता हूँ) and the dative (आदमी को देता हूँ), while German keeps separate case markers for these two roles — that's the genuinely new part to learn.
The dative articles
dem Mann, der Frau, dem Kind, den Kindern
आदमी को, औरत को, बच्चे को, बच्चों को
The dative article table: masculine → dem, feminine → der, neuter → dem, plural → den (+n on the noun). Note that feminine der and masculine/neuter dem also show up looking identical elsewhere in the case system — only the context and sentence agreement tell you which case is actually in play, not the spelling of the word alone.
Verbs that always take a dative object
Ich helfe dir. Das gefällt mir. Ich danke Ihnen. (I help you / I like that / I thank you)
मैं तुम्हारी मदद करता हूँ। यह मुझे पसंद है। मैं आपका धन्यवाद करता हूँ।
A handful of common German verbs — helfen (to help), gefallen (to please), danken (to thank), gehören (to belong to), antworten (to answer), glauben (to believe) — take a dative object, even though their Hindi translation might look like a simple direct object. There's no meaning-based rule for this — they simply have to be memorized as a list of 'dative verbs'.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| German | Pronunciation | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| dem Mann | daym mahn | आदमी कोādmī ko | to the man |
| der Frau | dair frow | औरत कोaurat ko | to the woman |
| dem Kind | daym kint | बच्चे कोbacce ko | to the child |
| den Kindern | dayn KIN-dern | बच्चों कोbaccoñ ko | to the children |
| geben | GAY-ben | देनाdenā | to give |
| zeigen | TSY-gen | दिखानाdikhānā | to show |
| schenken | SHEN-ken | उपहार देनाuphār denā | to give (as a gift) |
| helfen | HEL-fen | मदद करनाmadad karnā | to help |
| danken | DAHN-ken | धन्यवाद देनाdhanyavād denā | to thank |
| gefallen | geh-FAH-len | पसंद आनाpasand ānā | to please / to like |
| gehören | geh-HUR-en | का होनाkā honā | to belong to |
| antworten | AHNT-vor-ten | जवाब देनाjavāb denā | to answer |