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I recently watched some shows by Prof. Heinz Haber (1968) and I noticed, that he tends to append an "e" to the dative as in auf dem Monde or im Raume.

Udo Klinger lists the added "e" in parenthesis, which I interpret as "okay, but not necessary".

I suppose it is not okay to add an "e" if the noun ends with a vowel. But I am not sure. What are the rules when an extra "e" is okay and when it is not.

In contrast to the already answered question:

When, if at all, should I add an e to the end of a noun in the dative case?

I'd like to know when you can add an "e", not when you have to.

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Martin Drautzburg
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1 Answers1

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The Dative-E is considered dated, but you can of course use it. According to Wikipedia, it never appears with:

  • feminine nouns
  • nouns ending on -el, -en, em, -er,
  • names or foreign words

Dudengrammatik lists four factors in § 317:

  • I) word is part of the basic vocabulary or part of an idiom
  • II) exalted speech
  • III) nouns which can have a long genitive ending (des Baumes)
  • IV) the nount has to be preceded by a declinated word, such as an article!

You should use it for certain idioms which contain dative case:

Im Zuge dessen
Am Tage der Wiedervereinigung
Nach dem Tode meines Mannes
Im Jahre des Herrn

Carsten S
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Veredomon
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    Actually, the last three idioms you gave can be written without the -e. It sounds perfectly fine in modern language. Only "Im Zuge dessen" needs the -e because it is a fix phrase. – dervonnebenaan Oct 24 '14 at 14:52
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    I always wondered why the dative of Haus can be written as Hause, but the dative of Maus cannot be written with an added e. "never with feminine nouns" explains that. – Martin Drautzburg Oct 25 '14 at 11:07
  • @dervonnebenaan: You're right for Tage/Tode. I consider "Im Jahre des Herrn" fixed as well. – Veredomon Oct 25 '14 at 11:14