mir / dir / him / hir (Dative)

Dative Pronouns

Level 2

Dative pronouns mean to me, to you and so on: mir, dir, him, hir, eis, iech, hinnen and polite Iech: Kanns du mir hëllefen?

How It Works

The forms

  • ech → mir (to me), du → dir (to you)
  • hien → him (to him, or to it for a masculine noun)
  • si → hir (to her, for a woman you call si)
  • hatt → him and et → him (to her, to it): Ech hëllefen dem Anna, ech hëllefen him.
  • mir → eis (to us), dir → iech (to you all), si → hinnen (to them)
  • Dir → Iech (polite, always capitalized): Wéi geet et Iech?

Look-alike forms
Some dative forms look like other pronouns. Mir is both we and to me, and dir is both you all and to you. The position in the sentence tells them apart: Mir hëllefen dir means We help you. Eis and iech are the same in the dative and the accusative.

When to use the dative

  • for the person who receives something: Ech schécken dir d'Adress.
  • after dative verbs such as hëllefen, gehéieren and äntweren
  • in fixed phrases: Et geet mir gutt.
  • after dative prepositions: mat mir, bei hinnen

Short forms
In speech, mir and dir often shorten to mer and der, and hinnen becomes hinne by the n-rule. See short unstressed pronouns.

Examples (6)

  1. Ech schécken dir d'Adress.

    I will send you the address.

    Word by Word: I send you the address.

    You are the person who receives the address, so du becomes dir.

  2. Wéi geet et Iech? – Merci, et geet mir gutt.

    How are you? – Thank you, I am fine.

    Word by Word: How goes it to you? – Thanks, it goes to me well.

    This phrase always uses the dative: polite Iech and mir.

  3. De Marc huet Gebuertsdag. Mir kafen him e Buch.

    It is Marc's birthday. We are buying him a book.

    Word by Word: The Marc has birthday. We buy him a book.

    Hien becomes him in the dative.

  4. D'Anna huet vill Aarbecht. Ech hëllefen him.

    Anna has a lot of work. I am helping her.

    Word by Word: The Anna has much work. I help her.

    A woman called by her first name is hatt, and hatt becomes him in the dative.

  5. D'Bomi huet Gebuertsdag. Mir schreiwen hir e Bréif.

    It is Grandma's birthday. We are writing her a letter.

    Word by Word: The Grandma has birthday. We write her a letter.

    D'Bomi is feminine, so she is si, and si becomes hir in the dative.

  6. D'Kanner hunn Honger. Ech maachen hinnen eng Schmier.

    The children are hungry. I am making them a sandwich.

    Word by Word: The children have hunger. I make them a sandwich.

    Si (they) becomes hinnen in the dative.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the accusative after hëllefen.

    Ech hëllefen dech.
    Ech hëllefen dir.

    Hëllefen takes a dative object, so du becomes dir, not dech.

  • Keeping hatt in the dative.

    D'Anna ass krank. Ech hëllefen hatt.
    D'Anna ass krank. Ech hëllefen him.

    Hatt is the nominative and accusative form. In the dative it becomes him, like the other neuter pronoun et.

  • Using si instead of hinnen for to them.

    D'Kanner hunn Honger. Ech maachen si eng Schmier.
    D'Kanner hunn Honger. Ech maachen hinnen eng Schmier.

    The children receive the sandwich, so they are in the dative. The plural dative pronoun is hinnen.

How It Connects

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mir / dir / him / hir (Dative)Level 2Dative Pronouns

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Before Dative Pronouns, learn Object Pronouns (Accusative) and Dative Articles.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

mirhimhireisiechhinnenIechhëllefen