German · A2 · Family moment
Close By Your Side in German
Use gentle everyday German to talk about helping your baby, favourite things, belongings and missing loved ones. The verbs helfen, gefallen, gehören and fehlen all use the dative for the person receiving help or experiencing the connection.
What you'll learn
- Talk about helping with everyday care.
- Describe what your baby likes and who things belong to.
- Say who your baby misses and when you miss your baby.
- Identify the dative person and the nominative subject with helfen, gefallen, gehören and fehlen.
German phrases for close by your side
Ich helfe dir mit deinen Socken.
I am helping you with your socks.
Ich is the subject doing the helping; dir is the dative person receiving help. Mit also takes the dative: mit deinen Socken.
Papa hilft mir, dich zu baden.
Dad is helping me with your bath.
Literally: “Dad is helping me to bathe you.” Papa is the subject; mir is dative after helfen. Dich is the accusative object of baden.
Gefällt dir diese weiche Decke?
Do you like this soft blanket?
Diese weiche Decke is the subject; dir identifies the person who likes it. German frames this as “Is this soft blanket pleasing to you?”
Dieses sanfte Lied gefällt dir.
You like this gentle song.
The song is the subject. Dir is the dative person who likes it.
Dieser Teddy gehört dir.
This teddy belongs to you.
Dieser Teddy is the subject; dir is the dative owner. No separate word for “to” is needed.
Diese kleinen Socken gehören deiner Schwester.
These little socks belong to your sister.
The plural subject Socken takes gehören. Deiner Schwester is the dative owner.
Mama fehlt dir, wenn sie weg ist.
You miss Mum when she is away.
Mama is the subject—the person who is missed. Dir identifies the person who misses her.
Du fehlst mir, wenn ich bei der Arbeit bin.
I miss you when I am at work.
Du is the subject—the person who is missed—so the verb is fehlst. Mir identifies the person who misses you.
Hear these phrases and practise them
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Try it free for 7 daysKey words
helfen
to help
The person receiving help is dative: jemandem helfen. Notice the forms du hilfst and er/sie hilft.
gefallen
to be pleasing to; to be liked by
Use the liked thing as the subject and the person who likes it in the dative.
gehören
to belong to
The owner is dative: Das gehört mir means “That belongs to me.”
fehlen
to be missing; to be missed
For missing someone, the missed person is the subject. The person feeling their absence is dative.
die Decke
blanket
Plural: die Decken. Eine weiche Decke means “a soft blanket.”
die Socke
sock
Plural: die Socken.
weg sein
to be away; to be gone
Sie ist weg means “She is away.” After wenn: wenn sie weg ist.
Find the subject and the dative person
These four verbs take a dative person. The nominative subject controls the verb ending, even when it comes later in the sentence.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| helfen | helper as subject + helfen + dative person receiving help | Papa hilft mir. — Dad is helping me. |
| gefallen | liked thing as subject + gefallen + dative person who likes it | Die Decke gefällt dir. — You like the blanket. |
| gehören | belonging as subject + gehören + dative owner | Der Teddy gehört dir. — The teddy belongs to you. |
| fehlen | missed person as subject + fehlen + dative person who misses them | Mama fehlt dir. — You miss Mum. |
Useful dative forms
Use mir and dir, not mich and dich, for the person governed by these verbs. For a feminine singular noun such as Schwester, deine becomes deiner in the dative.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I → me | ich → mir | Papa hilft mir. — Dad is helping me. |
| you → you | du → dir | Ich helfe dir. — I am helping you. |
| your sister | deine Schwester → deiner Schwester | Die Socken gehören deiner Schwester. — The socks belong to your sister. |
Verb agreement and word order
Match the verb to the subject, not the dative person. In a yes/no question, put the conjugated verb first. In a clause beginning with wenn (“when”), put the conjugated verb at the end.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Singular subject | der Teddy + gehört | Der Teddy gehört dir. — The teddy belongs to you. |
| Plural subject | die Socken + gehören | Die Socken gehören dir. — The socks belong to you. |
| Subject du | du + fehlst | Du fehlst mir. — I miss you. |
| Yes/no question | conjugated verb + other sentence parts | Gefällt dir das Lied? — Do you like the song? |
| When-clause | wenn + subject + other information + conjugated verb | Mama fehlt dir, wenn sie weg ist. — You miss Mum when she is away. |
More examples
Papa hilft dir mit der Decke.
Dad is helping you with the blanket.
Papa does the helping; dir receives the help.
Gefallen dir die kleinen Socken?
Do you like the little socks?
The plural subject die kleinen Socken requires gefallen, not gefällt.
Du fehlst Papa.
Dad misses you.
Du is the subject; Papa is the dative person, although the name itself does not change.