I know mir means "to me". But what about mich? And how do you know when to use each one?
2007-08-28 09:42:08 · 5 answers · asked by Chase 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
It is all not as cut and dried as you seem to think. "Mich" is the accusative object, "mir" is the dative object.
Some German verbs have both a direct (accusative) and an indirect (dative) object. "Du gibst mir den Ball" where "mir is the dative and "den Ball" the accusative.
Other verbs have only a dative object: "Du hilfst mir." In that case you have to translate "mir" with "me" in English, because the English verb "to help" is transitive, i.e. it takes a direct object.
And then there are verbs that HAVE to have an accusative object, "ich sehe dich" they are called "transitive verbs", and in German you just can't use them on their own like e.g. the English "I see"
The only way to be certain about the case of the objects is to learn every single verb that is different from its English counterpart together with its "construction" : "eineM etwas geben", eineM helfen, eineN sehen." Wherever you see the "-n" ending there the pronoun is in the accusative, in your case "mich", the "-m" Ending means it is a dative and the pronoun in the first person is "mir".
The same is, of course, true for prepositions, you have to learn them with the case they take.
2007-08-28 10:02:17 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mir is dative case; mich is accusative. Indirect object and direct object respectively.
2007-08-28 09:50:22 · answer #2 · answered by JJ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
mir = dativ form of ich
mich = akkusativ form of ich
there are certain verbs and prepositions that use either of these. i'm sure if you do a google search it'll show you lists of which ones use them.
examples:
gib es mir, bitte! (give it to me, please)
es ist mir egal (i don't care)
er liebt mich (he loves me)
sie hat mich gefragt (she asked me)
do you get what i mean? :/
2007-08-28 09:52:13 · answer #3 · answered by Sage Kuroshima 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mir and Dir are the dative case Mich and Dich are the accusative case Gib es mir (provide it to me) lass mich... (permit me...) kannst du mir helfen? (are you able to aid me) and many others., and many others.
2016-09-05 17:09:18 · answer #4 · answered by mckinzey 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Michael Vick
2007-08-28 09:48:59 · answer #5 · answered by Chris 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋