für or dative?

Peter--252

Peter--252

In Lesson 14.7 (German Cases part 2) there is a sentence

Ich kaufe ein Buch für meinen Bruder - I buy a book for my brother.

I think this is to provide an example of how für takes the accusative.

(Different prepositions take different cases. A bit like Latin!)

Would it also be correct to use the dative, i.e.

Ich kaufe meinem Bruder ein Buch. ?

And if so, which is more likely to be used?

gottahaveajava

gottahaveajava

Both are correct, and both are in use. We need to know them both. 

It's much like dative as a replacement for genitive.  

Peter--252

Peter--252

Thanks for that, I thought as much.

I'd still be interested if one is more common, or whether it's a personal thing.

gottahaveajava

gottahaveajava

In my experience (admittedly not expert), it's about equal among native speakers. I do think that “für meinen Bruder” is more natural for English speakers and, given that many native speakers use it themselves, there's no good reason not to be comfortable with that.

Julia-Rocket-German-Tutor

Julia-Rocket-German-Tutor

Hallo Peter--252 und Doughoople!

 

Thanks for your input Doughoople! I agree, the two versions are both equally common and it's good to know both. 

 

Grüße,

Julia

 

Peter--252

Peter--252

Thanks both for your help!

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