<P> A grammatical "object" is an object of something, either an object of a preposition or an object of a verb . Objects of verbs can be either direct or indirect, while objects of prepositions are neither direct nor indirect . The indirect object of the verb is expressed between the verb and the direct object of the verb: "he gave me a book" or "he wrote me a poem ." </P> <P> An indirect object can often be re-worded with a prepositional phrase using "to" or "for", but it is then no longer an indirect object . For example, "He gave a book to me" and "He wrote a poem for me" have the same meaning the examples above, but are now adverbial prepositional phrases . Of course it is not unusual that two different grammatical structures can describe the same situation; however referring to these prepositional objects mistakenly as indirect objects is a common error . </P> <P> In general, the dative (German: Dativ) is used to mark the indirect object of a German sentence . For example: </P> <Ul> <Li> Ich schickte dem Mann (e) das Buch . (literally: I sent "to the man" the book .)--Masculine </Li> <Li> Ich gab der Frau den Stift zurück . (literally: I gave "to the woman" the pencil back .)--Feminine </Li> <Li> Ich überreiche dem Kind (e) ein Geschenk . (literally: I hand "to the child" a present .)--Neuter </Li> </Ul>

When is the dative case used in german