Order of dative and accusative objects

In brief

When a German sentence has both a recipient (dative) and a thing given or shown (accusative), their usual order depends on whether they are nouns or short pronouns. With two noun phrases, put the dative first: Ich gebe meiner Schwester das Buch. A pronoun usually comes before a noun phrase, regardless of which case it has.

Form

Two noun phrases: dative + accusative. One pronoun: pronoun + noun phrase. Two pronouns: accusative + dative.

Usage

• Use dative before accusative when both objects are noun phrases: Ich zeige dem Kind das Bild.
• Put a short object pronoun before a noun phrase: Ich zeige es dem Kind; ich zeige ihm das Bild.
• When both objects are pronouns, place the accusative one first: Ich zeige es ihm.

Examples

• Ich gebe meiner Schwester das Buch. — I give my sister the book.
• Ich gebe es meiner Schwester. — I give it to my sister.
• Ich gebe ihr das Buch. — I give her the book.
• Ich gebe es ihr. — I give it to her.

Common mistake

❌ Ich gebe meiner Schwester es.

✅ Ich gebe es meiner Schwester.

The short accusative pronoun es normally comes before the dative noun phrase meiner Schwester.

Remember

With two nouns, dative comes first; with two pronouns, accusative comes first.