Schenk mir Zeit mit dir
Give me the gift of time with you – "Schenk mir Zeit" by Wincent Weiss
Some say presence is the best present, and that’s exactly what we see in “Schenk mir Zeit” by German pop singer Wincent Weiss. In this slightly cheesy but completely delightful Christmas song (from his new Christmas album), Wincent confesses that the fanciest vacations and most expensive gifts are meaningless to him in comparison to what he really wants – time and shared experiences with a loved one.
Throughout the song, Wincent has also given us the gift of a few great examples of German’s dative case – we’ll unwrap them together below!
Schenk mir Zeit mit dir
Give me the gift of time with you
Auf meinem Wunschzettel steht dieses Jahr gar nicht viel
On my wishlist this year is not too much
Nur Zeit mit dir
Only time with you
Die besten Geschenke kommen ohne Papier
The best gifts come without paper
Erinnerungen, die wir uns teilen
Memories that we share
Ich rahm’ sie mir alle gut ein
I’ll frame them all well
Denn das ist, was mir wirklich bleibt
Because that’s what will really last for me
Schenk mir Zeit
Give me the gift of time
German’s dative case is most often utilized to indicate a sentence’s indirect object – answering the question of to whom or for whom something is given, done, or said. The dative makes its presence known by way of updated (or “declined”) direct and indirect articles, adjective endings, and dative-specific pronouns.
It makes sense that a song about gift-giving would provide us with a generous number of examples of the dative case in action, and sure enough, “Schenk mir Zeit” sparkles with the dative like a Christmas tree full of ornaments.
Let’s take a look at a few of the examples:
Klar, so ein Wagen wär’ sicher ganz schick
Sure, a car like that would be really nice
Hmm, doch das wünsch’ ich mir nicht
Hmm, but I don’t wish for that
You may remember from a previous post that expressing a wish with sich wünschen utilizes a reflexive pronoun in dative – in this case, the first personal singular pronoun mir.
Da gibt es nur eins, das ich will
There’s only one thing I want
Und das kannst nur du mir erfüllen
And only you can fulfill that for me
Only you can fulfill this wish for me – once again a use of the dative first person personal pronoun mir.
Schenk mir Zeit mit dir
Give me the gift of time with you
Time (Zeit) is what you are giving (schenken) to me (mir). Additionally, the preposition mit (with) belongs to a group of prepositions which always call for use of the dative, hence the use of the second person dative pronoun dir.
Auf meinem Wunschzettel steht dieses Jahr gar nicht viel
On my wishlist this year is not too much
Auf belongs to a group of prepositions which can call for either the accusative or dative case, depending on usage. As “on my wishlist” describes something stationary (rather than something in motion, which would signal for the accusative), the dative is called for, as indicated by the “-em” ending on the possessive pronoun meinem.
Das alles bedeutet mir nichts
All of that means nothing to me
Solange du nicht bei mir bist
As long as you’re not with me
It all means nothing to me (mir), as long as you’re not with me (bei mir) – bei is yet another preposition which calls exclusively for the dative case.
These are just a few of the examples of the dative case found in “Schenk mir Zeit” – can you find the others? And if you’re looking for more in-depth information on the dative case in German, check out this great article by German with Laura.
Here are a few additional words from “Schenk mir Zeit” to add to your vocabulary list:
das Hotel – the hotel
das Ende – the end
die Welt – the world
das Frühstück – the breakfast
der Champagner – the champagne
bestellen – to order
eigentlich – actually
sich wünschen – to wish for something
der Kindheitstraum – the childhood dream
erfüllen – to fulfill
schenken – to give as a gift
die Zeit – the time
der Wunschzettel – the wish list
das Geschenk / die Geschenke – the gift / the gifts
die Erinnerung / die Erinnerungen – the memory / the memories
teilen – to share
einrahmen – to frame
wirklich – really
bleiben – to stay / remain
bedeuten – to mean