I. Indirect Objects
Nouns that act as the indirect object in German sentences are in the dative case. Not surprisingly, when the indirect object is replaced with a pronoun, the pronoun is also in the dative. For the most part, these pronouns change to dative from their accusative and nominative forms. In English, we distinguish between direct and indirect objects by using prepositions. While this is also done in German, it is also common to find the meaning of prepositions like “for” and “to” included in the dative pronoun itself.II. Es ist mir (dir, ihm, etc.)
As you can see in the examples below, a common way to describe one’s current situation or feeling is the expression “es ist mir …” or simply “mir…”. Use “es ist mir” + a noun or an adjective to express how something is to you, or for you. For instance, “Es ist mir peinlich” literally translates to “it is to me embarrassing”, but in English we would say “it’s embarrassing for me.”Examples:
| Es ist mir neu. It’s new (to) me. Es ist ihm peinlich. It’s embarrassing (for) him. Wäre Ihnen das passend? Would that be convenient (for) you? Sie ist mir ein Rätsel. She’s a mystery (to) me. Mir ist kalt. It’s cold (to) me. |
III. Review
The indirect object receives the action of a verb indirectly, and answers the question “to whom” or “for whom”. Dative pronouns are used to replace nouns that play the indirect object role in the sentence.Examples:
| Ich schreibe meiner Mutter. I write (to) my mother. Ich schreibe ihr. I write (to) her. Wir beschreiben den Kunden das Produkt. We describe the product (to) the clients. Wir beschreiben ihnen das Produkt. We describe the product (to) them. Es geht Mattias gut. It’s going well (for) Mattias. Es geht ihm gut. It’s going well (for) him. |
IV. Pronouns in the Dative
In the chart below, we see how the indirect (dative) pronouns differ from the subject (nominative) pronouns:| Nominative | Dative | Nominative | Dative |
| ich | mir | wir | uns |
| du | dir | ihr | euch |
| er, sie, es | ihm, ihr, es | sie, Sie | ihnen, Ihnen |
*Note that Ihnen is capitalized to convey the formal just as the subject pronoun Sie is.
Further examples:
| Es ist ihnen egal. It doesn’t matter (to) them. Bei euch ist es anders? Is it different (for) you? Bitte zeigen Sie mir Ihren Ausweis. Please show me your ID. Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen? How may I help you? |