German · A2 · Family moment
Support And Belonging in German
Use warm, everyday German to talk about helping, liking, belonging and missing someone or something. With helfen, gefallen, gehören and fehlen, the person receiving help or experiencing the situation is in the dative case.
What you'll learn
- Offer help and ask your child to help a friend.
- Talk about what someone likes and who owns something.
- Express missing a person or needing a missing piece.
- Identify the dative person and the nominative subject.
German phrases for support and belonging
Ich werde dir bei deinem Projekt helfen.
I will help you with your project.
Ich is the subject; dir is the dative person receiving help. Bei also takes the dative: bei deinem Projekt.
Kannst du deinem Freund helfen?
Can you help your friend?
Du is the subject; deinem Freund is dative after helfen. For a female friend, use deiner Freundin.
Gefällt dir der neue Club?
Do you like the new club?
Der neue Club is the nominative subject—the thing you like. Dir is the dative person who likes it.
Deiner Schwester gefällt deine Zeichnung.
Your sister likes your drawing.
Deiner Schwester is dative. Deine Zeichnung is the nominative subject, even though it comes after the verb.
Gehört dir dieser Helm?
Does this helmet belong to you?
Dieser Helm is the nominative subject. Dir identifies the owner in the dative; no preposition is needed.
Diese Bücher gehören deinem Freund.
These books belong to your friend.
Diese Bücher is the plural subject, so use gehören. Deinem Freund is the dative owner.
Dein bester Freund fehlt dir.
You miss your best friend.
German reverses the English perspective: your best friend is missing from your life. Dein bester Freund is the subject; dir is the person who misses him.
Deinem Bruder fehlt ein Teil für sein Modell.
Your brother is missing a piece for his model.
Ein Teil is the nominative subject—the missing item. Deinem Bruder is the dative person who needs it. Für takes the accusative: für sein Modell.
Hear these phrases and practise them
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Try it free for 7 daysKey words
helfen
to help
Use the dative for the person helped. Useful forms: ich helfe, du hilfst, er/sie hilft.
gefallen
to appeal to; to be liked by
The liked thing is the subject. Use gefällt for one thing and gefallen for several.
gehören
to belong to
The owner is dative. Unlike English, German needs no word for 'to' here.
fehlen
to be missing
The missing person or thing is the subject. The dative person misses someone or lacks something.
der Freund / die Freundin
friend
Use deinem Freund for a male friend and deiner Freundin for a female friend in these dative phrases.
der Helm
helmet
Dieser Helm means 'this helmet' when it is the subject.
das Teil
piece; component
Use das Teil for a component of a model or machine. The plural is die Teile.
Who is the subject, and who is dative?
These verbs require a dative person. With helfen, the helper is the subject. With gefallen, gehören and fehlen, the thing or person liked, owned or missing is the subject.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| helfen | helper (nominative) + helfen + person helped (dative) | Ich helfe dir. — I help you. |
| gefallen | liked thing (nominative) + gefallen + person (dative) | Der Club gefällt mir. — I like the club. |
| gehören | owned thing (nominative) + gehören + owner (dative) | Der Helm gehört dir. — The helmet belongs to you. |
| fehlen | missing person or thing (nominative) + fehlen + person (dative) | Ein Teil fehlt ihm. — He is missing a piece. |
Useful dative forms
Use dative forms rather than subject forms for the person affected. For singular family and friend nouns here, dein becomes deinem with masculine nouns and deiner with feminine nouns.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I → me | ich → mir | Der Club gefällt mir. — I like the club. |
| you → you | du → dir | Ich helfe dir. — I help you. |
| he → him | er → ihm | Ein Teil fehlt ihm. — He is missing a piece. |
| she → her | sie → ihr | Die Bücher gehören ihr. — The books belong to her. |
| Masculine noun | dein Bruder → deinem Bruder | Ich helfe deinem Bruder. — I help your brother. |
| Feminine noun | deine Schwester → deiner Schwester | Ich helfe deiner Schwester. — I help your sister. |
Verb agreement and word order
The verb agrees with the nominative subject, not the dative person. A dative phrase can come first in a statement. In yes/no questions, the conjugated verb comes first. With werde or kannst, helfen goes at the end.
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Singular subject | ein Teil + fehlt | Deinem Bruder fehlt ein Teil. |
| Plural subject | zwei Teile + fehlen | Deinem Bruder fehlen zwei Teile. |
| Yes/no question | conjugated verb + remaining sentence | Gehört dir dieser Helm? |
| Future | werde + ... + helfen | Ich werde dir helfen. |
| With can | kannst + ... + helfen | Kannst du deinem Freund helfen? |
More examples
Wir helfen deiner Freundin.
We help your friend.
Wir is the subject. Deiner Freundin is the female friend receiving help.
Gefallen dir die Bilder?
Do you like the pictures?
Die Bilder is plural, so use gefallen rather than gefällt.
Dieses Buch gehört mir.
This book belongs to me.
Dieses Buch is the subject; mir is the dative owner.
Du fehlst mir.
I miss you.
Du is the subject, so the verb is fehlst. Mir identifies the person who misses you.