"He gives the apple to a lady."
Translation:Er gibt einer Dame den Apfel.
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412
Dative object tends to be before accusative object, therefore the 'natural' phrase would be "Er gibt einer Dame den Apfel." However, "Er gibt den Apfel einer Dame" is grammatically correct as well; the emphasis is placed more on the lady than on the apple in this case.
Why is it den Apfel instead of dem Apfel?
The apple is the direct object (the thing that "suffers" or undergoes the act of giving), so it stands in the accusative case in the German sentence.
The lady is the indirect object (the recipient of the giving), so she stands in the dative case in the German sentence.
Thus Er gibt einer Dame den Apfel / Er gibt den Apfel einer Dame, with masculine accusative den Apfel and feminine dative einer Frau.
dem would be masculine dative -- wrong case, since the apple is not the recipient.
1150
The answer key puts the dative before the accusative. I did the other way around and it was accepted. Some other questions do not accept that. Should this question have rejected my answer?
The direct object of a sentence is whom or what the verb is applied. In this case, it is den Apfel that is being given. The indirect object is to/for whom/what the direct object is applied. In this case, it is einer Dame that the apple is being given to.
https://writingexplained.org/grammar-dictionary/indirect-object
There is no need to say "to" because it is implied by the dative case.
Two questions!! 1. is it acceptable (as long as I use the correct forms of the cases Der/den/dem etc) to say either "Er gibt einer Dame den Apfel" and/or "er gibt den Apfel einer Dame"? 2. in English we have "give...to" is the "to" implied in German when using the dative case when talking about "a" lady (in this case by saying "einer" in "gibt...einer")?