Genau
Topic test · A1

Dative case test

10questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
Start the test Read the topic first

One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

10 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

Ich helfe Frau.

I am helping the woman.

der. helfen takes the dative, and the dative of die Frau is der Frau. That der is not masculine — it is the feminine dative doing a second job.

Ich spiele mit . (die Kinder)

I am playing with the children.

den Kindern. mit is always dative, and the plural dative does two things at once: the article becomes den and the noun takes an extra -n. No extra -n if the plural already ends in -n or -s: mit den Frauen, mit den Autos.

Ich stelle die Tasse auf Tisch.

I am putting the cup onto the table.

den. auf is a two-way preposition: wohin? (the cup is moving onto the table) → accusative. Once it is standing there: Die Tasse steht auf dem Tisch.

Der Film gefällt .

I like the film — gefallen flips the sentence.

mir. With gefallen the sentence flips: the film is the subject and you are the dative object — literally «the film pleases to me». English translates it as «I like the film», which is exactly why this one keeps going wrong.

Das Auto gehört Mann.

The car belongs to the man.

gehören is a dative verb — the owner takes dative: dem Mann.

Ich danke für die Einladung.

Thank you (formal) for the invitation.

danken takes dative; the polite pronoun's dative is Ihnen.

Die Tasse steht auf Tisch.

The cup is standing on the table.

Location (wo?) takes dative: auf dem Tisch. Putting it there (wohin?) would be accusative.

Which preposition group is ALWAYS dative?

The always-dative seven. für/ohne/… are always accusative; in/an/auf switch by motion.

Dative plural adds what to the noun?

Dative plural puts -n on the noun unless it already ends in -n/-s: mit den Kindern · mit den Autos.

Which is wrong?

helfen is dative — masculine dative is dem.
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. der/das → dem, die → der

    Masculine and neuter both become dem; feminine becomes der; plural becomes den + noun-n.

    dem Mann · der Frau · den Kindern

  2. Dative verbs take no accusative

    helfen · danken · gefallen · gehören · passen · antworten — their object is dative, always.

    Ich helfe dem Mann.

  3. Seven always-dative prepositions

    mit · nach · bei · seit · von · zu · aus — no exceptions, no thinking required.

    mit dem Bus · bei der Arbeit

  4. Location = dative on two-way prepositions

    in/an/auf/über/unter… take dative when the answer is wo? (where at), accusative when it is wohin? (where to).

    auf dem Tisch ↔ auf den Tisch

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Ich helfe den Mann.

    Ich helfe dem Mann.

    helfen is dative; den is accusative masculine.

  • mit den Kinder

    mit den Kindern

    Dative plural adds -n to the noun.

  • Ich danke Sie.

    Ich danke Ihnen.

    danken is dative; polite dative is Ihnen.

  • Die Tasse steht auf den Tisch.

    Die Tasse steht auf dem Tisch.

    Standing is location → dative.