A2-48 · Keep track of who gives what to whom

Dealing with officials

Review nominative, accusative and dative in conversations about forms and appointments.

About 5 minutes to read · 12 quiz questions

An office employee checks an application at a service counter while an adult waits with a folder.

Find the subject

The nominative names who does the action: Der Mitarbeiter prüft den Antrag. Der Mitarbeiter is the subject. Der Antrag means application and das Formular form.

Der Mitarbeiter prüft den Antrag.

The employee checks the application.

Die Mitarbeiterin prüft das Formular.

The female employee checks the form.

Das Formular liegt hier.

The form is here.

Wer prüft den Antrag?

Who checks the application?

Ask Wer? for a person doing the action. The verb agrees with the subject: der Mitarbeiter prüft, die Mitarbeiter prüfen.

A visitor signs a blank form and organizes a passport and documents at a counter.

Identify the document being handled

The accusative names the object of actions such as brauchen, prüfen and unterschreiben. Masculine der becomes den: Ich brauche den Pass. Feminine die and neuter das stay the same.

Ich brauche den Pass.

I need the passport.

Mara unterschreibt das Formular.

Mara signs the form.

Ben prüft die Anmeldung.

Ben checks the registration.

Ich möchte den Antrag unterschreiben.

I would like to sign the application.

Der Pass means passport, die Anmeldung registration and unterschreiben sign. Die Unterlagen is a plural noun meaning documents.

A visitor hands a passport to an employee while another employee explains a form.

Name the person receiving it

With geben and zeigen, the person receiving or seeing the document takes the dative. Ich gebe dem Mitarbeiter den Pass has a nominative subject, dative recipient and accusative object.

Ich gebe dem Mitarbeiter den Pass.

I give the employee the passport.

Ich zeige der Mitarbeiterin das Formular.

I show the female employee the form.

Wem geben Sie den Antrag?

To whom are you giving the application?

Ich gebe Ihnen den Pass.

I give you the passport, politely.

Ask Wem? for the recipient. Compare dem Mitarbeiter, der Mitarbeiterin and den Mitarbeitern. For a polite person, use Ihnen.

Ready to try it?

Check what you remember with 12 short questions.