Genau
Topic test · A2

Dativ verbs test

13questions
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

13 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 .

I’m helping you.

dir. helfen takes the Dativ. English says a plain “help you”, and here the bridge fails — the same bridge that also breaks on folgen.

Der Film mir.

I like the film.

gefällt. The subject is der Film, not you — the verb agrees with the film. In the plural it would be Die Filme gefallen mir.

Ich rufe an.

I’m calling you.

dich. Even if a call feels like something “to you”, anrufen takes the Akkusativ. It is one of the seven trap verbs on the page.

Ich gebe ___ . (es · dem Kind)

I’m giving it to the child.

es dem Kind. The pronoun comes before the noun, whatever its case. With two nouns the neutral order would put the person (Dativ) first: Ich gebe dem Kind das Buch.

Ich gebe . (es · ihm)

I’m giving it to him.

es ihm. With two pronouns the order flips: thing first (Akkusativ), person second (Dativ).

Which one means “I miss you”?

Du fehlst mir. Word for word: “you are missing to me”. Ich fehle dir says the opposite: “I am missing to you” = you miss me.

Das Auto gehört Vater.

The car belongs to my father.

gehören takes the Dativ: whoever something belongs to goes in the Dativ. Masculine Dativ → meinem.

Ich danke für die Hilfe.

Thank you for your help.

danken is a Dativ verb. The Dativ of the polite “you” is Ihnen.

Diese Jacke passt nicht.

This jacket doesn’t fit me.

passen is also in the Dativ family: when something fits someone, that person goes in the Dativ — Die Jacke passt mir.

Which one is wrong?

fragen takes the Akkusativ: Ich frage den Lehrer. antworten and helfen are in the Dativ family — this is the mistake that comes up most when the three get mixed.

The sentence Ich helfe dich. is grammatically correct.

False. helfen always takes the Dativ, so it has to be Ich helfe dir.

This shirt fits me. Das Hemd passt

mir. passen (to fit in size) takes the Dativ without exception. The personal pronoun is Dativ when you say who it fits.

Build the sentence: I’m giving him a book.

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

With verbs that take a Dativ object, the Dativ object comes first (ihm), then the Akkusativ object (ein Buch).
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. Learn the Dativ family as a set

    helfen · danken · gefallen · gehören · passen · antworten · fehlen — their object is always Dativ. Most of them describe something aimed at a person, which makes them easy to keep in mind.

    Ich helfe dir. · Das Auto gehört meinem Vater.

  2. Two nouns as objects: to whom first, then what

    The Dativ noun goes first, the Akkusativ noun after it. With two pronouns the order flips: Akkusativ first, then Dativ.

    Ich gebe dem Kind das Buch. → Ich gebe es ihm.

  3. fragen and anrufen are traps

    In English they look like plain objects, and both take the Akkusativ: Ich frage dich. · Ich rufe dich an.

    Ich rufe dich an.

  4. Feeling patterns are built with the Dativ

    Du fehlst mir (I miss you) · Der Film gefällt mir (I like the film) — they can’t be translated word for word from English and are learned as patterns.

    Du fehlst mir.

Traps

Commonly mixed up

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

  • Ich frage dem Lehrer.

    Ich frage den Lehrer.

    fragen takes the Akkusativ. It gets mixed up with antworten from the Dativ family.

  • Ich rufe dir an.

    Ich rufe dich an.

    anrufen takes the Akkusativ — thinking “a call goes to you” misleads you.

  • Ich gebe ihm es.

    Ich gebe es ihm.

    When two pronouns meet, the order flips: Akkusativ first — es ihm.

  • Der Film gefällt ich.

    Der Film gefällt mir.

    The person who likes it is in the Dativ with gefallen; the film is the subject.