Adjectives with dative complements

A small but high-frequency group of German adjectives requires a dative complement — a noun or pronoun in the dative case — rather than an accusative object or a prepositional phrase. These adjectives are typically used with sein and describe a relationship or attitude between the subject and the dative person: Ich bin dir dankbar (I am grateful to you). A closely related pattern uses an impersonal construction with no grammatical subject: the dative pronoun names the person who experiences a physical or emotional sensation, and the adjective describes that sensation — Mir ist kalt (I am cold, lit. «it is cold to me»). Both patterns are standard German and cannot be replaced by a nominative subject + sein + adjective the way English works.

• Relational adjectives with sein: adjectives such as ähnlich, dankbar, behilflich, treu, wichtig, egal express a relationship between a subject and a dative person. The dative answers the question «to whom?» or «for whom?»: Er sieht seinem Vater ähnlich.

• Impersonal sensation constructions: to express physical or emotional states experienced by a person — cold, hot, sick, bored — German uses Dative + ist + adjective with no explicit subject. Common adjectives in this pattern: kalt, warm, schlecht, übel, langweilig, schwindelig.

• Personal judgment with zu + adjective: adding a dative to a zu + adjective construction shifts the statement from a general observation to a personal verdict. Compare: Das ist zu teuer (general: it is too expensive) vs. Das ist mir zu teuer (personal: it is too expensive for me / I find it too expensive).

• A few adjectives take the accusative instead: a small closed set governs the accusative, not the dative: leid (die Wartezeit leid sein), wert (das Geld wert sein), gewohnt (die Arbeit gewohnt sein). These must be learned individually.

The adjective itself does not inflect in these predicative constructions — it stays in its base form. Only the dative complement changes according to the dative paradigm. The table below shows the dative personal pronouns used as the affected-person complement.

For noun phrases, use the regular dative noun endings. The word order is flexible, but the dative complement typically comes before the adjective in the impersonal pattern and after the verb in the relational pattern:

• Calquing English «I am cold»: English uses a nominative subject for physical sensations, but German does not. *Ich bin kalt means «I am a cold person (by nature)» or is simply odd. The correct form is Mir ist kalt. The same applies to warm, schlecht, übel, schwindelig, and similar sensation adjectives.

• Using the accusative with dative-governing adjectives: learners sometimes reach for the accusative by analogy with transitive verbs. *Er sieht seinen Vater ähnlich is wrong. Adjectives like ähnlich, dankbar, behilflich, treu, egal always take the dative: Er sieht seinem Vater ähnlich.

• Dropping the dative with zu + adjective: Das ist zu teuer is grammatically fine but makes a general, impersonal claim. If you mean to express your own judgment — «I find it too expensive» — you must include the dative: Das ist mir zu teuer. Omitting mir loses the personal-verdict reading entirely.