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Dative with Feelings

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The Verbs guttun and leidtun

The verbs gut tun (to do good for) and leid tun (to make sorry) take the dative.
 

Die Kur hat Ihnen gut getan.
The spa did some good for you.
 
Es tut mir leid.
I’m sorry.
 
Herr Mackensen tut mir leid.
I feel sorry for Mr. Mackensen.

The Expression es geht

The expression es geht is used to describe how one feels or how things are going. It takes the dative.
 

Es geht mir schon seit zwei Tagen so.
I’ve been feeling this way for two days.
 
Wie geht es Ihnen?
How are you?

Dative with Adjectives Expressing Feelings

To express feelings with predicate adjectives, use the dative of the person experiencing the feeling.
 

War Ihnen übel?
Were you feeling nauseous?
 
Mir ist nur unwohl.
I’m just not feeling well.

Adjectives that work this way are: kalt (cold), heiß (hot), egal (indifferent), recht (all right = approval), wohl (all right = health), übel (nauseous) and schwindlig (dizzy).
 

Mir ist zu kalt.
I’m too cold.
 
Ist das Ihnen heiß genug?
Is that hot enough for you?
 
Mir ist egal, was Sie sagen.
I don’t care what you say.
 
Ist das Ihnen recht?
Is that OK with you?


Examples of Dative with Feelings

  • Hatten Sie Durchfall? War Ihnen übel? Ist der Schmerz stechend?
  • War Ihnen schwindlig?