3. Pronouns What are pronouns? They are the words for: I, you, he, she, it, we, you (plural), they & you (formal) These words can also be put into the accusative case IF SOMETHING IS BEING DONE TO THEM (they are then the direct object of the sentence): John asks him. “John” is the subject (doing the asking) & “him” is the direct object (having something done to him being asked) John fragtihn. (John asks him.) Jane siehtdich. (Jane sees you.) Ich mageuch. (I like you {plural}.)
5. Some examples: 1. I know him. (kennen = to know {a person}) 1. Ich kenne ihn. 2. I am asking her. (fragen = to ask) 2. Ich frage sie. 3. He loves me. (lieben = to love) 3. Er liebt mich. 4. I have seen you (two). 4. Ich habe euch gesehen. 5. I am wearing it. 5. Ich trage es.
6. As you know in German, when you are talking about “it”, you need to clearly state whether you are talking about a masculine, feminine or neuter noun. For example: The table is brown. It is brown. DerTischistbraun. Eristbraun. Ok, let’s try it using the accusative case now! Der Rock = the skirt I am wearing the skirt. I am wearing it. Ich trageden Rock. Ich trageihn. DieJacke = the jacket I am wearing the jacket. I am wearing it. Ich tragedieJacke. Ich tragesie. DasKleid = the dress I am wearing the dress. I am wearing it. Ich tragedasKleid. Ich tragees.
7. Now for some new stuff... The dative case! You may know about this from when you use dative prepositions which are: aus– out of; from bei– at, near, with mit– with nach– after, to seit– since von – from, by zu– to außer– except for, besides gegenüber – (across) opposite
8. Whenever you use one of these prepositions, whatever follows is in the dative case. Z.B. Der Bus istsehrgroß. Ich fahremitdem Bus. Die Party war fantastisch! Nach der Party bin ich nach Hausegegangen. Das Mädchenistsehrnett. Das isteinGeschenkvon demMädchen. Die Freundeheißen Joe und Jack. Wirbleibenbei denFreunden. There is another instance when you must also use the dative case...
9. Dative for the indirect object. I am giving the Salvos my old clothes. Frage. Who is the subject? Antwort. I F. What/who is the direct object (think accusative case – what/who is having something done to it/them?) A. “my old clothes” – they are being ‘given’ F. Who/what is the indirect object? A. “the Salvos” The indirect object is who or what is receiving the direct object, in this case, “The Salvos” are receiving “my old clothes” and therefore “the Salvos” are the indirect object.
10. To identify an indirect object, think: “Who or what is receiving something?” Whoever that person is, is the indirect object (& therefore in the dative case)
11. Some more examples to dissect... I am giving her a book. S = I D.O. = a book I.O. = her Ich gebeihreinBuch. Susie gives the boy the cds. S = Susie D.O. = the cds I.O. = the boy Susie schenktdemJunge die CDs The man sold us the house. S = The man D.O. = the house I.O. = us Der Man hat uns das Haus verkauft.
12. There are also certain verbs which always precede the dative case. Some of these are: antworten – to answer geben – to give danken – to thank gefallen – to please gehören – to belong helfen – to help passen - to fit (clothing etc) stehen – to suit (clothing etc) Ich antwortedem Mann. I answer the man. Wirdanken der Lehrerin. We thank the teacher. Sie hilftdemkleinen Kind. She helps the small child. Das blaueHemdpasst dir nicht. The blue shirt doesn’t fit you.
14. Word order rules with direct & indirect objects in the same sentence. The indirect object always comes before the direct object. Meine Mutter schenktmeinerSchwestereineHandtasche. (I.O. = dative) (D.O. = accusative) My mother gives my sister a handbag Exception: if you have two pronouns in a sentence, the D.O. comes before the I.O. Gibst du esmirbitte? Give it to me please?
