Lesson 9.11

In lesson 9.11 one of the examples is: “Dem Mann gefällt das Hotel nicht.” Why is the man being treated as an indirect object? 

The verb gefallen means “is pleasing to”, so the literal meaning of the sentence is “to the man is pleasing the hotel not”, or in a more normal English order, “the hotel is not pleasing to the man." 

I believe it could have been written Das Hotel gefällt nicht dem Mann, or Das Hotel gefällt dem Mann nicht; I'm not sure if there is a difference in stress. 

The translation given in the lesson, “the man doesn't like the hotel”, is basically a free translation, and more normal English, but care is needed in that the the subject of the sentence in English is the man, whereas the subject in German is Das Hotel.

I see, thanks so much for the reply!

Hallo Tom2789 und Peter--252,

thank you very much for your explanation Peter--252! I just wanted to add that you wouldn't really say “Das Hotel gefällt nicht dem Mann." unless there was a second part of the sentence, such as “Das Hotel gefällt nicht dem Mann, sondern der Frau."- “The man doesn't like the hotel, but the woman does.”

Viele Grüße,

Julia


 

Thanks Julia.

I was wondering though, can you say “Der Mann mag das Hotel nicht” (The man doesn't like the hotel"), and would it mean basically the same, or is there a difference in emphasis?

Peter

Hallo Peter--252,

Yes, “Der Mann mag das Hotel nicht.” would be perfectly acceptable, too. However, there is a difference in meaning which is described in lesson 4.7 ‘To Like and To Love’. The section ‘MÖGEN vs. GEFALLEN’ goes into more detail but the main difference is that mögen is more emotional, and gefallen is more superficial.

Grüße,

Julia
 

Thanks Julia!

I vaguely remembered that I'd seen it before but wasn't sure where. 

Now I've re-read it it's become a lot clearer!

Grüße,

Pete