German A2.10 Listening Practice: Learn Helfen With Its Case
Listen to a A2 German dialogue about learn helfen with its case, with audio, transcript, and grammar notes for language learning.
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Level
A2.10
Audio
Segmented audio
Transcript
22 segments
A short German listening chapter with transcript.
Learn the case together with the verb: the person receiving help is marked dative after helfen.
Read while you listen.
1. Hanna · Teacher
Welcome to today's lesson! I'm Hanna. Today, we're focusing on a key German verb: 'helfen', which means 'to help'. In German, 'helfen' always takes a dative object. Let's listen to a short conversation between Clara and Felix.
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2. Clara · Native Speaker 2
Felix, schau mal, das Kind trägt eine schwere Tasche.
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3. Felix · Native Speaker 1
Hilfst du dem Kind?
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4. Clara · Native Speaker 2
Ja, ich helfe ihm sehr gerne.
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5. Felix · Native Speaker 1
Super, und danach helfen wir den Nachbarn im Garten.
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6. Clara · Native Speaker 2
Perfekt, wir helfen ihnen immer!
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7. Hanna · Teacher
Great job listening! Now let's break down those sentences together.
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8. Hanna · Teacher
In the first sentence, Clara says: 'Felix, schau mal, das Kind trägt eine schwere Tasche.' That means, 'Felix, look, the child is carrying a heavy bag.' Notice 'das Kind' is a neuter noun.
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9. Lukas · Student
Is 'das Kind' neuter regardless of whether the child is a boy or a girl?
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10. Hanna · Teacher
Yes, exactly! Grammatical gender in German belongs to the word itself, so 'das Kind' is always neuter.
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11. Hanna · Teacher
Next, Felix asks: 'Hilfst du dem Kind?' This means, 'Are you helping the child?' Because 'helfen' governs the dative case, 'das Kind' changes to 'dem Kind'.
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12. Lukas · Student
So we shouldn't translate 'help the child' directly from English accusative, but always pair 'helfen' with dative?
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13. Hanna · Teacher
Spot on, Lukas! Always store 'helfen + dative' in your memory as one complete pattern.
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14. Hanna · Teacher
Clara answers: 'Ja, ich helfe ihm sehr gerne.' This means, 'Yes, I am happy to help it.' She uses 'ihm' to replace 'dem Kind'.
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15. Lukas · Student
Wait, why does she say 'ihm' instead of 'ihn'?
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16. Hanna · Teacher
'Ihm' is the dative pronoun for neuter words like 'das Kind'. 'Ihn' would be accusative, which we don't use with 'helfen'.
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17. Hanna · Teacher
Then Felix says: 'Super, und danach helfen wir den Nachbarn im Garten.' That means, 'Great, and afterwards we help the neighbors in the garden.'
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18. Lukas · Student
Why did 'die Nachbarn' become 'den Nachbarn' here?
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19. Hanna · Teacher
Because 'Nachbarn' is plural, and plural dative article is always 'den'.
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20. Hanna · Teacher
Finally, Clara says: 'Perfekt, wir helfen ihnen immer!' This means, 'Perfect, we always help them!'
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21. Lukas · Student
So 'ihnen' with a lowercase 'i' is the dative pronoun for 'them'?
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22. Hanna · Teacher
Precisely. Capitalized 'Ihnen' is formal 'you', but lowercase 'ihnen' means 'them' in the dative case. Keep practicing these dative patterns, and see you next time!
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