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Ich esse einen Hamburger mit Danny

Oder

Ich esse mit Danny einen Hamburger

Are there any specific places where accusative will come first, other than where its a pronoun?

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Both are fine (apart from the ambiguity Björn mentioned). You're kind of asking the wrong question, though: There are rules about the order of dative and accusative objects, but "mit Danny" isn't an object (though it contains a dative, of course).

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  • It is an object, but a prepositional object, so the rules for plain dative objects don't apply.
    – RHa
    Jul 19 '18 at 14:50
  • I'd call that an adverbial, not a prepositional object. I don't see a functional difference between something like "heute" or "allein" on the one hand and "in einer Stunde" or "mit Danny" on the other, so calling the latter ones objects just because they contain a preposition doesn't seem to make much sense to me.
    – DonHolgo
    Jul 19 '18 at 16:53
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My answer is not complete, but I want to indicate that in your example it depends!

If you're a cannibal, it may well be that Hamburger mit Danny is to your liking (analogous to Hamburger mit Gurke). If not, it is more likely that you and Danny only have a meal together (Du isst mit Danny einen Hamburger).

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There is no simple rule dative first or accusative first. It's all about objects of different type and their relation.

Ich esse einen Hamburger mit Danny.

Ich esse mit Danny einen Hamburger.

The piece einen Hamburger is an accusative object to Ich esse. It's the thing which is eaten. The piece mit Danny is a prepositional object. The preposition mit always takes the dative.

Ich esse gegen den Hunger mit Danny einen Hamburger.

The piece gegen den Hunger is another prepositional object, and gegen is a preposition which always takes the accusative.

So, how to line up these pieces? First rule is putting the most important piece at the front of the sentence, and the second most important at the end.

Ich esse mit Danny einen Hamburger gegen den Hunger.

Gegen den Hunger esse ich mit Danny einen Hamburger.

etc. Thats the basic lineup of declarative sentences in German.

However, there is another order rule to think about. Fortunately it's the same as in English: prepositional objects describe the piece they follow.

Ich esse mit Danny einen Hamburger.

I eat with Danny. A hamburger.

Ich esse einen Hamburger mit Danny.

I eat a hamburger. With Danny.

I eat a hamburger with Danny. (Danny being a nickname of a condiment.)

If you want to avoid confusion, you may choose the other lineup in German. In English you had to work around the word order limitations by using another sentence.

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