A2 · elementary · 20/21 #IKI-NESNE

Verbs with two objects

Verben mit zwei Objekten

Some German verbs take two objects, one answering “to whom?” (dative) and one answering “what?” (accusative): geben, zeigen, schenken.

Giving or showing something to someone: one dative and one accusative in the same sentence.

Contents

The picture: to whom and what

ShortcutVerbs like geben (to give), schenken (to give as a gift) and zeigen (to show) always need two things: to whom are you giving, and what are you giving? The “to whom” is always the dative, the “what” is the accusative.

geben · schenken to give · to give as a gift TO WHOM? (DAT) + WHAT? (ACC)
zeigen · erklären to show · to explain TO WHOM? (DAT) + WHAT? (ACC)
bringen · schicken to bring · to send TO WHOM? (DAT) + WHAT? (ACC)

Ich gebe dem Kind einen Apfel.

I give the child an apple.

Er zeigt mir das Foto.

He shows me the photo.

You already do this in English (with a little “to”)

English has the same two slots. I give the child an apple is the German order exactly. When you say I give an apple to the child, the little word “to” marks the dative. German has no “to” here: the endings do the work, and the order is fixed.

English	German	Order
I sell the man the car.	Ich verkaufe dem Mann das Auto.	dative + accusative
I’m explaining the rule to you.	Ich erkläre dir die Regel.	dative + accusative

Because German words change with their case, the verb is followed straight away by to whom (dative) and then what (accusative).

Ich verkaufe das Auto dem Mann.

Not wrong, just stressed: I sell the car to the man (not to someone else).

Ich verkaufe dem Mann das Auto.

I sell the man the car.

Table: the order rules

The order of the objects depends on whether they are nouns or pronouns.

Case	Order	Example
Two nouns	Dative first	Ich gebe dem Mann den Apfel.
One pronoun	Pronoun first	Ich gebe ihm den Apfel. / Ich gebe ihn dem Mann.
Two pronouns	Accusative first	Ich gebe ihn ihm. / Ich gebe es dir.

A pronoun always jumps ahead of a noun. If both are pronouns, the accusative goes first.

Ich gebe dir es.

I give it to you.

Ich gebe es dir.

I give it to you.

Two places people go wrong

Trap 1

Mixing up the order

Ich gebe dem Mann ihn.

A pronoun does not come after a noun.

Ich gebe ihn dem Mann.

The pronoun (ihn) always comes before the noun, whatever its case.

Trap 2

Putting the dative first with two pronouns

Ich gebe dir es.

With two pronouns, the dative does not come first.

Ich gebe es dir.

With two pronouns, the accusative (es) always comes first.

Memorise Ich gebe es dir. If you forget every rule, this one sentence reminds you of the right order.

Practice now

What you just learned

Ich bringe ___ einen Kaffee.
Show the answer
dir — “bringen” (to bring) wants the dative for the “to whom”: du → dir.
Ich schenke das Buch dem Kind. — this is the neutral, unstressed word order.
Show the answer
False. In a neutral sentence with two nouns, the dative (dem Kind) comes first and the accusative (das Buch) second: Ich schenke dem Kind das Buch. The other order is not wrong, but stressed: to the child, not to someone else.
Put in the neutral (unstressed) order: (gebe / dem Kind / ich / den Apfel)
Show the answer
Ich gebe dem Kind den Apfel. — With two nouns, a neutral sentence puts the dative (dem Kind) first and the accusative (den Apfel) second. Ich gebe den Apfel dem Kind. is not wrong, but stressed: to the child, not to someone else.

What nobody tells you: empfehlen

empfehlen (to recommend) also takes two objects. English gets away with a single “to” (recommend this film to you), so learners often forget that German wants both the “to whom” and the “what” as bare cases.

Ich empfehle dir diesen Film.

I recommend this film to you.

Können Sie mir ein gutes Restaurant empfehlen?

Could you recommend a good restaurant to me?

Always say both: who you are recommending it to, and what you are recommending.

06Build

Build the sentence yourself

Tap the words and put them in order. This is the hardest part of German — and there are no options to pick from, you build it.

tap the words
tap the words
tap the words

Tips

Know this before the test

The core of the topic in three lines, then the mistakes people make most often.

With two nouns, the dative comes first
If both objects are nouns, you say first to whom (dative), then what (accusative).
Ich zeige der Frau den Weg.
A pronoun comes before a noun
If one of the objects is a pronoun (ihm, es, sie), it always goes ahead of the noun.
Ich zeige ihm den Weg.
With two pronouns, the accusative comes first
If both are pronouns, the accusative (what) goes first and the dative (to whom) comes last.
Ich zeige ihn ihm.

Ich gebe dem Mann ihn.
Ich gebe ihn dem Mann.
The pronoun (ihn) comes before the noun, whatever its case. “Dative first” only applies when both objects are nouns.
Ich schenke dir es.
Ich schenke es dir.
With two pronouns, the accusative es always comes first.

0607:20

Test yourself

Tap an answer — we will look at why together.

Put in the neutral (unstressed) order: (gebe / dem Kind / ich / den Apfel)

I give the child the apple.

With two nouns, a neutral sentence puts the dative (dem Kind) first and the accusative (den Apfel) second. Ich gebe den Apfel dem Kind. is not wrong, but stressed: to the child, not to someone else.

Put in order: (gebe / es / ich / dir)

I give it to you.

With two pronouns, the accusative (es) goes first and the dative (dir) last.

Er zeigt das Auto.

He shows the woman the car.

der Frau. With zeigen, the answer to “to whom?” must be in the dative (die Frau → der Frau).

Wir schicken ein Paket.

We’re sending the man a parcel.

dem Mann. schicken (to send) wants the dative for the “to whom” (der Mann → dem Mann).

Können Sie mir bitte Restaurant empfehlen?

Could you recommend a good restaurant to me?

ein gutes. The “what” takes the accusative (das Restaurant → ein gutes Restaurant).

Which one is correct?

The pronoun (ihr) must come before the noun (die Blumen). The third option has two pronouns, so it should have been sie ihr.

+4 Finish the topic: take the full test 10 questions · timed · exam style · 60% finishes the topic

Practice done — –

To finish the topic, take the full test: score 60% and it is marked as done on your level path.

0/6 · questions answered

Worksheet