How does "wem", "wen" and "wer" help to recognise the appropriate case?

Question

I'm told a way to recognize the appropriate case is the following: > Ich gab Ihm einen Kuss = Dativ; wem gab ich einen Kuss= Ihm I'm having a hard time understanding how this helps. It actually helps when you know the correct answer! Otherwise how you would know you should ask "wem gab ich einen Kuss" and not "wen gab ich einen Kuss", for instance?

Answer 1

Hello! Just like with other words, the ending can often provide hints as to the case being used. So, for example, wer is the nominative case for the word "who." Wen is accusative, and wem is dative.

One could say "Wer hat mir einen Kuss gegeben?" Which means "Who gave me a kiss?" You would not say the same sentence but replace wer with wen or wem, because the person doing the action is the "who" you are asking about.

It is useful to remember that the dative case is the indirect case, used in saying to/for whom something occurs, is given, etc. If you are giving the kiss to him, it is dative. There are situations where this might not be as straightforward, but I hope this is helpful.