"Kann ich dich anrufen?"
Translation:Can I call you?
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Yes it does. The verb in a German sentence generally comes in position 2 and if you start the sentence with Jetzt you do have to reverse the subject and verb. It is a somewhat more emphatic way of saying it in German to put the Jetzt in first position. The less emphatic way would be Ich bin jetzt traurig.
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Yes it does. In German "Hauptsätze" the verb is always in 2nd place. (Exception: Yes/No questions.)
Whether the first word is the subject or something else, the verb retains its second place, even if that means switching places with the subject.
So yes, "Jetzt bin ich traurig" is correct, while "Jetzt ich bin traurig" is completely wrong (and instantly identifies you as a native English speaker). ;-)
"Darf ich" means "am I allowed to" or "may I", while "kann ich" means "can I".
Same as in English, the expression "kann ich" is often also used when asking for permission, but the main difference between the two is, that "kann ich" means to have the ability to do something, while "darf ich" only means to have the permission to do it.
German has many of these separable verbs. They are essentially verb preposition combinations. You might consider that anrufen was call up. In English we have many of these verb preposition phrases which alter the meaning of the verb. Consider the verb to stand. You can stand up, stand down, stand in, stand out, stand for, stand with, stand around, etc. In German these often become separatable verbs. Sometimes the meaning is somewhat obvious to us and sometimes not. Ziehen is to draw or to pull, anziehen is to put on (as in clothing). Kaufen is to buy, but einkaufen is shopping. The later is not as easy to understand.
Sorry, I'm confused. Must I say dir anrufen (dativ) or dich anrufen (accusative) like written here? Personally, I think dir anrufen makes more sense because you're adressing the call to someone. Unlike Kann ich dich kussen, where you kiss the person itself (dich), here the action is not performed directly using the person, the person isn't the object of the action, know what I mean? Thanks!
Actually this is the same grammar as the English in this case. "You" is the direct object of both the German and English sentence. If you were talking about writing, it would be different. Kann ich dir schreiben. In this case you is the indirect object in both cases. With writing, the direct object is generally assumed to be "a letter" and mostly omitted.
For the most difficult parts of German cases, you won't be able to reason it out using your English understanding. But in this case, you just have to review what a direct object is. A direct object receives the action of the verb. An indirect object answers the question to or for whom. The person receives the action of a call. You call a person. The letter receives the action of the verb write. You write a letter to someone.