German Personal Pronouns: Dative

Dative pronouns are the ones you'll need every time you talk about giving, helping, or liking something in German. In this lesson, we go through every German dative pronoun, put each one into an example sentence, and finish with the word-order rule for when you use a dative and accusative pronoun together.

The German Dative Pronouns

ich → mir (to/for me), du → dir (to/for you), er → ihm (to/for him), sie → ihr (to/for her), es → ihm (to/for it), wir → uns (to/for us), ihr → euch (to/for you, plural), sie → ihnen (to/for them), Sie → Ihnen (to/for you, formal). Compare these directly with the accusative forms in our guide to Akkusativ, and check the free list of German dative verbs for which verbs need which case.

Using Dative Pronouns in a Sentence

Dative pronouns replace the indirect object — usually a person receiving or benefiting from the action: Ich gebe dir das Buch. (I give you the book.) Das gefällt mir. (I like that — literally “that pleases me.”) Kannst du mir helfen? (Can you help me?)

Bonus: Accusative Before Dative — When Both Are Pronouns

There's one order flip to remember: with a dative and accusative noun together, dative usually comes first (Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch.). But once both objects become pronouns, the order reverses — accusative comes before dative: Ich gebe es ihm. (I give it to him.) See our full breakdown of where to place accusative and dative objects for every combination of noun and pronoun.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the German dative personal pronouns?

Mir, dir, ihm, ihr, ihm, uns, euch, ihnen, and the formal Ihnen.

How do you say “I like that” using a dative pronoun?

Das gefällt mir — literally “that pleases me.”

What is the word order when a sentence has both a dative and accusative noun?

The dative object usually comes first, e.g. Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch.

What happens to the word order when both objects are pronouns?

It reverses — the accusative pronoun comes before the dative pronoun, e.g. Ich gebe es ihm.

How do you say “can you help me” in German?

Kannst du mir helfen? — helfen is one of the German verbs that always takes a dative object.

Ready to master every German case with pronouns and full sentences? Start with our A1 German course.