Master 39 German dative verbs (helfen, gefallen, danken and more) with Hindi meanings, example sentences and click-to-hear audio. Free guide.

Mastering Dative Verbs in German – Complete Guide with Audio

39 essential German verbs that always take the dative case — with Hindi meanings, example sentences, usage notes and click-to-hear pronunciation. Explained in Hindi and English.

Dative Verbs — वे क्रियाएँ जो हमेशा Dativ (wem?) माँगती हैं।

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What Are Dative Verbs?

Dative verbs (Dativverben) always take a dative object — never an accusative object. Instead of answering wen oder was?🔊 (whom/what — accusative), they answer wem?🔊 (to/for whom — dative).

हिंदी में समझें: Normal verbs में object Akkusativ में होता है (wen? = किसे?)। लेकिन Dative verbs में object हमेशा Dativ में होता है (wem? = किसको/किसके लिए?)। जैसे: helfen🔊 — हम कहते हैं Ich helfe dir🔊 (dir = Dativ), न कि “Ich helfe dich” (dich = Akkusativ)।

❌ Ich helfe dich.🔊 (WRONG — accusative)

✅ Ich helfe dir.🔊 (CORRECT — dative)

I help you. — “dir” is the dative form of “du”

Dative Pronouns — Quick Reference

Before diving into the verbs, memorise these dative pronouns. Every dative verb uses them.

Dative Pronouns (wem?)
Person	Nominativ	Dativ	Example
I → me	ich🔊	mir🔊	Hilf mir!🔊
you → you	du🔊	dir🔊	Ich danke dir.🔊
he → him	er🔊	ihm🔊	Ich glaube ihm.🔊
she → her	sie🔊	ihr🔊	Das gehört ihr.🔊
we → us	wir🔊	uns🔊	Folgt uns!🔊
you (pl.) → you	ihr🔊	euch🔊	Es tut euch gut.🔊
they/formal → them	sie / Sie🔊	ihnen / Ihnen🔊	Ich vertraue ihnen.🔊

39 Essential Dative Verbs

Every verb below always takes a dative object. Click any 🔊 to hear the example sentence.

ähneln🔊

to resemble / be similar to

मिलना-जुलना, समान होना

Das Kind ähnelt seinem Vater sehr.🔊

The child closely resembles his father.

antworten🔊

to answer / reply to someone

जवाब देना, उत्तर देना

Warum antwortest du mir nicht?🔊

Why aren’t you answering me?

💡 Use “auf” for the topic: auf eine Frage antworten🔊

begegnen🔊

to meet (unexpectedly)

अचानक मिलना, सामना होना

Gestern bin ich einer hübschen Frau begegnet.🔊

Yesterday I met a beautiful woman.

💡 Uses sein🔊 in Perfekt: ich bin begegnet.

beistehen🔊

to stand by / to support

साथ देना, समर्थन करना

Lieber Gott, steh mir bei!🔊

Dear God, stand by me!

💡 Separable verb — used in difficult situations.

beitreten🔊

to join / to enter into

शामिल होना, प्रवेश करना

Holger ist einer Umweltschutzorganisation beigetreten.🔊

Holger joined an environmental protection organization.

danken🔊

to thank

धन्यवाद देना, शुक्रिया करना

Ich danke Ihnen für Ihre Hilfe.🔊

I thank you for your help.

💡 Common phrase: Vielen Dank!🔊

dienen🔊

to serve

सेवा करना

Wie kann ich Ihnen dienen?🔊

How can I serve you?

drohen🔊

to threaten

धमकी देना

Willst du mir so drohen?🔊

Do you want to threaten me like that?

einfallen🔊

to occur to / come to mind

याद आना, दिमाग में आना

Was fällt dir ein, wenn du dieses Bild siehst?🔊

What comes to your mind when you see this picture?

💡 Separable verb — ein🔊 separates at end.

entgegenkommen🔊

to come toward / to accommodate

मिलने आना, रास्ता देना

Warum kommst du mir nicht entgegen?🔊

Why don’t you meet me halfway?

💡 Can also mean “to make concessions.”

fehlen🔊

to be missed / to be lacking

कमी होना, याद आना

Seine Frau fehlt ihm sehr.🔊

He misses his wife a lot.

💡 The person who misses something is in dative!

folgen🔊

to follow

पीछे आना, अनुसरण करना

Bitte folgen Sie mir.🔊

Please follow me.

💡 Perfekt with sein🔊: ich bin gefolgt.

gefallen🔊

to please / to be liked by

पसंद आना

Gefällt dir das Auto?🔊

Do you like the car?

💡 Extremely common for expressing likes — key verb!

gehorchen🔊

to obey

आज्ञा मानना

Kinder müssen ihren Eltern gehorchen.🔊

Children must obey their parents.

gehören🔊

to belong to

संबंध रखना, का होना

Gehört das Buch dir?🔊

Does the book belong to you?

genügen🔊

to suffice / to be enough

पर्याप्त होना, काफी होना

Das genügt mir.🔊

That’s enough for me.

glauben🔊

to believe (someone)

विश्वास करना

Seine Frau glaubt ihm nicht.🔊

His wife doesn’t believe him.

💡 With things → accusative: Ich glaube das.🔊

gratulieren🔊

to congratulate

बधाई देना

Ich gratuliere dir zum Geburtstag!🔊

I congratulate you on your birthday!

💡 Pattern: gratulieren + dative + zu + dative.

gut tun🔊

to be good for

अच्छा लगना, फायदेमंद होना

Urlaub wird dir gut tun.🔊

Vacation will do you good.

helfen🔊

to help

मदद करना

Können Sie mir helfen?🔊

Can you help me?

⭐ Most common dative verb — learn this first!

missfallen🔊

to displease

नापसंद आना

Sein Verhalten missfällt mir.🔊

His behavior displeases me.

💡 Opposite of gefallen🔊.

sich nähern🔊

to approach

नज़दीक आना

Der Sturm nähert sich der Küste.🔊

The storm approaches the coast.

💡 Always reflexive: sich nähern.

nachlaufen🔊

to run after

पीछे भागना

Der Hund läuft jedem Auto nach.🔊

The dog runs after every car.

nützen🔊

to be useful to

उपयोगी होना

Das nützt mir nichts.🔊

That’s no use to me.

passen🔊

to fit / to suit

फिट होना, अनुकूल होना

Das Kleid passt dir perfekt.🔊

The dress fits you perfectly.

passieren🔊

to happen to someone

होना (किसी के साथ)

Das ist mir noch nie passiert.🔊

That has never happened to me before.

raten🔊

to advise

सलाह देना

Ich rate dir zum Arzt zu gehen.🔊

I advise you to go to the doctor.

💡 Pattern: raten + dative + zu + infinitive.

schaden🔊

to harm / to be bad for

नुकसान पहुँचाना

Rauchen schadet der Gesundheit.🔊

Smoking harms your health.

sagen🔊

to tell (someone)

कहना (किसी को)

Was hast du ihm gesagt?🔊

What did you tell him?

💡 Dative for the person; accusative for the thing said.

schmecken🔊

to taste good to

स्वादिष्ट लगना

Pizza schmeckt mir sehr.🔊

Pizza tastes very good to me.

schenken🔊

to give as a gift

तोहफा देना

Ich schenke meiner Mutter Blumen.🔊

I give my mother flowers as a gift.

vertrauen🔊

to trust

विश्वास करना, भरोसा करना

Ich vertraue meinem Freund.🔊

I trust my friend.

verzeihen🔊

to forgive

माफ़ करना

Verzeih mir bitte!🔊

Please forgive me!

weh tun🔊

to hurt / to cause pain

दर्द होना

Mein Kopf tut mir weh.🔊

My head hurts. (Literally: does pain to me)

widersprechen🔊

to contradict

विरोध करना, खंडन करना

Du sollst mir nicht widersprechen!🔊

You shouldn’t contradict me!

zuhören🔊

to listen to

ध्यान से सुनना

Hörst du mir zu?🔊

Are you listening to me?

💡 Separable: zu🔊 + hören🔊.

zustimmen🔊

to agree with

सहमत होना

Ich stimme dir zu.🔊

I agree with you.

leid tun🔊

to be sorry

खेद होना, अफसोस होना

Es tut mir leid.🔊

I’m sorry.

⭐ Most important apology phrase in German!

es geht🔊

how someone is doing

हालचाल पूछना

Wie geht es dir? Mir geht es gut.🔊

How are you? — I’m fine.

⭐ First German phrase every learner needs!

Pro Tips for Mastering Dative Verbs

Always ask “Wem?”

Ask wem?🔊 (to/for whom?) to identify the dative object. If the question works, the verb takes dative.

No Akkusativ

These verbs never take an accusative object. There’s no “wen?” answer — only “wem?” The person or thing always gets dative.

Memorise the pronouns

Learn: mir, dir, ihm, ihr, uns, euch, ihnen, Ihnen🔊. These are the heart of every dative sentence.

Start with the top 5

helfen, gefallen, danken, schmecken, leid tun🔊 — master these first, they appear daily.

Fixed phrases first

Some are part of essential expressions: Es tut mir leid.🔊 Wie geht es dir?🔊 Learn them as whole chunks.

Click and repeat

Click every example sentence above, then say it yourself immediately. Dative verbs stick fastest when you practise them in complete sentences out loud.

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