Why "ihrem Freund helfen" and not "ihren Freund helfen"?

Question

Laura will ihrem Freund beim Kochen helfen.

In this sentence ihrem is used instead of ihren. Why is that? There is no dative preposition here.

See also german.stackexchange.com/questions/25284/…, german.stackexchange.com/questions/65288/… and possibly others. — DonHolgo, Aug 31, 2021 at 9:44

Olafant · Accepted Answer · 2021-08-31 05:46:44Z

6

Not only prepositions but also verbs determine which case to use in German.

While most of the verbs in German require accusative case, there are several verbs that require dative case and even some that require genitive case.

Helfen is one of the verbs that require dative case.

If you look up a verb in dwds.de you will find a lot of example sentences. That might help you to figure out which case to use with a verb.

answered Aug 31, 2021 at 5:46

Olafant

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So if I use a dative verb the case will always be dative then?
– Ambika Jangir
Aug 31, 2021 at 7:28
In a simple sentence yes. There might be construction (e.g. with infinitive and zu) where other rules apply. But normally: yes.
– Olafant
Aug 31, 2021 at 7:43
Dative verbs are covered in Wikipedia, though I'm not a fan of how they explain it. Any good grammar should cover this topic as well.
– RDBury
Aug 31, 2021 at 8:45
1

Thank you so much for your help.
– Ambika Jangir
Aug 31, 2021 at 11:01

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