Dative

Dative is another case in German. It is used for indirect objects

Like the nominative and accusative cases, the dative causes the declension of articles and adjectives

Ich gebe meiner Mutter ein Geschenk

I give my mother a present

The objects must come in the following order: dative than accusativei

Unlike in the accusative, all the articles in the dative change: The masculine and neuter definite article is dem in the dative

Ich gebe dem Mann ein Geschenk

I gave a gift to the man

Ich gebe dem Kind ein Geschenk

I gave a gift to the child

In the feminine, the definite dative article is der

Ich gebe der Frau ein Geschenk

I gave a gift to the woman

Some verbs such as hilfen (to help), gratulieren (to congratulate), danken (to thank) and widersprechen (to contradict) are always folllowed by the dative in German, where they would be followed by direct objects in English

Kannst du deiner Schwester helfen?

Can you help your sister?

Ich danke meinem Vater

I thank my father