The case belongs to the verb
You know that helfen, danken and gefallen take a dative as their only object. The group is much larger, and a few verbs take the genitive. Nothing in the meaning tells you which case a verb wants. Grammarians call this the Rektion of a verb, and it is stored in the dictionary next to the meaning.
More dative verbs
Dative verbs by family
| Family | Verbs | Example |
|---|---|---|
| helping, harming, serving | schaden, nützen, dienen | Das schadet deiner Gesundheit. |
| towards a person | gratulieren, verzeihen, widersprechen, zustimmen, vertrauen, glauben, zuhören, drohen | Ich gratuliere dir zum Geburtstag. |
| moving towards someone | folgen, begegnen, sich nähern | Ich bin ihr in der Stadt begegnet. |
| things that happen to you | fehlen, gelingen, einfallen, auffallen, genügen | Der Name fällt mir gerade nicht ein. |
All of these take the dative as their only object.
Dative verbs in use
Hörst du mir überhaupt zu?
Are you even listening to me?
Ich vertraue meinem Team vollkommen.
I trust my team completely.
Da muss ich Ihnen leider widersprechen.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with you there.
Du fehlst mir.
I miss you.
Literally: you are missing to me. The thing is the subject, the person is the dative.
Der Kuchen ist mir diesmal gelungen.
The cake worked out for me this time.
The last family works like gefallen: the thing is the subject and the person is in the dative, the opposite of the English arrangement. folgen, begegnen and gelingen form the Perfekt with sein.
The genitive verbs
Only a handful of genitive verbs are still in use, and all of them are formal. You need them for reading, speeches and official texts. In conversation you replace them: recognise the genitive object, and paraphrase it when it is your turn to speak.
Genitive verbs and their everyday versions
| Verb | Example | Everyday version |
|---|---|---|
| gedenken (to commemorate) | Wir gedenken der Opfer. | an die Opfer denken |
| bedürfen (to require) | Das bedarf einer Erklärung. | Das braucht eine Erklärung. |
| sich erfreuen (to enjoy) | Das Café erfreut sich großer Beliebtheit. | Das Café ist sehr beliebt. |
Legal and news language adds verbs with two objects, an accusative for the person and a genitive for the thing: jemanden eines Verbrechens beschuldigen, jemanden des Diebstahls verdächtigen.
Man beschuldigt ihn des Betrugs.
He is being accused of fraud.
Diese Entscheidung bedarf einer sorgfältigen Begründung.
This decision requires careful justification.
