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Flipping the sentence: when the thing is the subject

When you talk about your feelings or experiences in English, you are usually the subject of the sentence. You say, "I like this song" or "I miss my friends". You are in the driver's seat. But German has a special group of verbs that turns this logic completely upside down.

With these verbs, the thing you are experiencing takes control and becomes the subject. You, the person having the experience, step back and become the indirect object in the dative case. The most common dative pronouns you will use here are mir (to me), dir (to you), ihm (to him), ihr (to her), and uns (to us). English speakers often make mistakes with these verbs by accidentally making themselves the subject, which leads to the wrong verb ending.

Word list
wehtunA2 to hurt Der Fuß tut mir weh = my foot hurts wehtunA2 to hurt Das tut mir weh = that hurts me gefallenB1 to please Es gefällt mir = I like it gut stehenB1 to suit Das steht mir gut = I look good in it passenB1 to fit Die Hose passt mir = the trousers fit me schmeckenB1 to taste Das schmeckt mir = I like the taste stehenB1 to suit Das Kleid steht dir = you look good in the dress ausreichenB2 to suffice Das Geld reicht mir nicht aus = I don't have enough money einleuchtenB2 to make sense Das leuchtet mir ein = that makes sense to me fehlenB2 to lack Du fehlst mir = I miss you genügenB2 to suffice Das genügt mir = I have enough misslingenB2 to fail Der Versuch ist mir misslungen = my attempt failed reichenB2 to suffice Das reicht mir = I have enough
Liking and tasting

If you want to say you like something, German offers gefallen for things, people, and places. For food and drink, you use schmecken. Instead of saying "I like the picture", you literally say "The picture pleases me". The picture is the subject doing the pleasing.

Das Bild gefällt mir.
(I like the picture.)
Dieser Kaffee schmeckt mir sehr gut.
(I really like this coffee.)

A very common trap is trying to say Ich gefalle das Bild. This is incorrect and actually means "I am pleasing to the picture". Always remember to conjugate the verb to match the thing you are evaluating. If you like multiple things, the verb must be in the plural form.

Diese Schuhe gefallen mir.
(I like these shoes.)
Missing and failing

The verb fehlen works the exact same way. To say "I miss you", you flip the sentence to "You are lacking to me". You are the dative object (mir), and the person you miss is the subject (du).

Du fehlst mir so sehr.
(I miss you so much.)

Similarly, if you fail at a task, the task is the subject of the verb misslingen. You are just the person to whom the failure happened.

Der Kuchen ist mir misslungen.
(I failed at baking the cake.)
Clothes and physical sensations

When talking about clothes or physical sensations, German again puts the thing first. If you look good in a sweater, the sweater is doing the work using stehen or gut stehen. If it is the right size, you use passen.

Der Pullover steht dir gut.
(You look good in the sweater.)
Die Hose passt mir nicht.
(The trousers don't fit me.)

For aches and pains, you will use wehtun. The body part causing the pain is the subject of the sentence.

Mein Kopf tut mir weh.
(My head hurts.)
Evaluations and having enough

You will also see this pattern when evaluating situations or amounts. If you have had enough of something, use reichen, genügen, or ausreichen. Instead of "I have enough", German says "It suffices to me". If something makes sense to you, use einleuchten.

Zwei Stücke Pizza reichen mir.
(Two slices of pizza are enough for me.)
Diese Erklärung leuchtet mir ein.
(This explanation makes sense to me.)
Summary

When using verbs like gefallen, fehlen, and schmecken, the thing you are experiencing is the subject of the sentence, and you are the dative object. Always conjugate the verb to match the thing, not yourself!