In the German language, what's meant by the "Dative" form?

Question

What's it's function?
Please give me examples of English "Dative" forms.

Answer 1

It's true that the dativ is used for the indirect object, often in combination with certain verbs. (Give or say, or generally, verbs that state someting or that are for the benefit of someone.)

''Ich habe ihm das schon so oft gesagt, aber er vergisst es immer wieder.''
(I told HIM so many times, but he keeps forgetting.)

''Ich habe ihm damit geholfen, weil es viel zu schwer war.''
(I helped HIM with that, because it was much too heavy.)

It's also used with certain prepositions. (mit, aus, außer, bei, nach, nebst, seit, von, zu.)
This isn't very easy for most to understand, that's why they call the dativ the location case too.

Consider:

Das gemaelde hangt an der Wand (dativ)
The painting's on the wall.
Ich hange das Gemaelde an die Wand (accusativ)
I'm putting the painting on the wall.

Now the dativ is clearly indicating a location. To understand why the accusativ is different, we should know this case is used for direction. ''I'm putting the paiting on the wall, therefore I'm moving this painting towards the wall.'' That's why the accusativ and dativ aren't the same.
Don't confuse direction and movement!

Die Fischlein schwimmen im Teich.
(The little fish are swimming in the pond)

This is the dativ, because, though they may be moving, they're not moving to or away from the pond.

''Die Fischlein schwimmen in den (in) Teich'' is incorrect.

The dativ can have even more functions, but I don't know any quick rules to remember them... they're not as complicated though. See Wikipedia or google further!

Answer 2

The dative is used for indirect objects, location, and with certain prepositions.

I gave the book to him (indirect object).

The book is on the table (location).

The prepositions 'nach' and 'zu' always take the dative case, even when they mean 'motion towards' which usually requires the accusative. Other dative-only prepositions are aus, bei, mit, seit and von.

Certain verbs require dative objects as well, such as helfen (help) which in English takes a direct object instead.

To Alpine Alli, 'auf den' vs 'auf dem' only seems complicated at first. Once you get the distinction between direction and location it makes sense. "Ich hänge das Bild an (not auf) die Wand" means "I am hanging the picture on(to) the wall" and "Das Bild hängt an der Wand" means "The picture is hanging on the wall" [Wand is feminine so the accusative article is 'die' and the dative is 'der', and 'an' is used for vertical hanging while 'auf' for horizontal lying.]

Also, your English examples don't apply to German. A German would say "I called for her (accusative) a cab" and "I called her (also accusative) a loser" - using different words for "call." I believe better German for the second would be "I said that she a loser was."

Answer 3

Think about the difference between these two sentences in English:

I called her a cab.
I called her a loser.

In the first, "her" would be dative (indirect object), because the calling is something you're doing FOR her.
In the second, "her" would be accusative (direct object), because the calling is something you're doing TO her.

(What I don't get is the auf dem Wand vs. auf den Wand business. Never will.)


Edit: Thanks to the person above for the explanation, but no, I never will get it. (You can check my questions for more about that.) And you're right, my examples were in English and were not meant to translate directly. In English the distinction is clear, doing for her vs. doing to her.
(re-edit) It occurs to me that I may eventually get it, but only by accepting German as having five cases, including "locative" which happens to always look/behave exactly as the dative does, much like in English, accusative and dative almost always look/behave the same (The only difference being where they can be placed in a double-object sentence). So thanks for that!

Answer 4

Simply put, it is the case for indirect objects, but it is also used with certain verbs like helfen, to help. Some examples in English would be, I gave a present to him or I gave her a cookie. The present and cookie are the direct or accusitive objects, and the person who is indirectly affected by your action and answers the question to or for whom is the indirect or dative.

In addition to the uses that the person below me mentioned, dative is also used in sentences like "mir ist kalt", "mir ist langweilig", "wie geht es dir?" I am cold, I am bored, how are you? It is also found in many sentences like "im Jahre 2007".

Answer 5

aus , bei , mit , nach , seit , zu , von are with the Dative which is used as indirect object.
an , auf , hinter , in , neben , über , unter , vor , zwischen are with Dative / Accusative.