Verb 'helfen' (to help, + dative)

The verb helfen ("to help") is a dative verb: the person you help stands in the dative case, not the accusative. This often surprises English speakers, because "to help someone" looks like a direct object in English.

Ask Wem? ("to/for whom?") to find the dative object.

Present tense, note the vowel change in du/er: ich helfe, du hilfst, er/sie hilft, wir helfen, ihr helft, sie helfen.

Examples:

• Ich helfe meiner Mutter. - I help my mother. (meiner = dative)
• Kannst du mir bitte helfen? - Can you please help me?
• Wir helfen dem alten Mann. - We help the old man.

Common mistakes: Never put the person in the accusative. It is Ich helfe dir (dative), not Ich helfe dich; and Ich helfe dem Mann, not den Mann. Also remember the stem change helfen → du hilfst, er hilft in the present tense.

'helfen' (to help) takes a dative object.

The person you help is in the dative (wem?): Ich helfe dir.

'helfen' steht mit dem Dativ.