GrammatikDativ
Alles über den Russischen Dativ.
Dativ
Hinweis: Die Grammatikartikel sind noch neu und wir arbeiten teilweise noch daran. Zurzeit sind sie nur auf Englisch verfügbar, in circa zwei Monaten dann aber auch in Deutsch.
The Dative case answers to кому́? (to whom?) and чему́? (to what?).
The two most typical usages are:
- the recipient of an action: - "I gave him a book".
- someone experiencing anything: - "To him it is cold".
When to use the Dative
Expressing Age
In Russian, you don't "have" years or "are" a certain age. Instead, years are "given" to you.
Structure: [Person in Dative] + [Number] + [год/го́да/лет]
- - I am 25 years old. (Literally: To me are 25 years.)
- - Ivan is 30 years old.
- - How old are you? (formal/informal)
Physical and Emotional States, with Adverb
When describing how someone feels physically or mentally, the "experiencer" is put in the Dative case.
-
- I am cold.
-
- She is in pain.
-
- We are bored.
-
- Are you scared?
-
- Are you comfortable?
Modals: Needs, Permissions, and Prohibitions
When using words like "need," "allowed," or "forbidden," the person affected is in the Dative.
- Ну́жно / На́до - need
- I need to work. - Мо́жно - may/allowed
- Children are allowed [to have] ice cream. - Нельзя́ - must not/forbidden
- He is not allowed to smoke.
Intent and Fate (The "Am to" Construction)
When expressing what someone is to do or what is destined to happen, the Dative is used with an infinitive.
- - What am I to do? / What should I do?
- - Where are we to go?
Using "рад" - glad
The short-form adjective рад (glad/happy) always takes a Dative object to show what you are happy about.
- - I am glad [about] your success.
- - We are happy about the holiday.
Prepositions that govern the Dative
The two most essential prepositions are к and по.
к always takes the Dative; по mostly does too, but in some meanings it takes the Accusative (по пя́тницу - through Friday) or, in formal style, the Prepositional (по прибы́тии - upon arrival).
| Preposition | Translation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| к is the primary preposition for movement directed toward a person, an object, or a point in time. | ||
| к / ко to, towards | к кому́/чему́? to whom/what? | I am going to a friend's. We are running towards the sea. By dinner time. |
| по is a "multi-purpose" preposition with several distinct meanings: Movement along/on a surface, communication/medium, subject/field, distribution/schedule. | ||
| по along, around, via | по кому́? along whom? | I am sailing on/along the lake. I am calling by phone. I study via Zoom. A textbook on math. On Saturdays. |
Verbs that govern the Dative
In the table we marked unintuitive verbs with ⚠️, those may feel like Accusative ("call who?") but are basically targeted Datives: "call to whom", "advise to whom" etc.
| Verb (Imp/Perf) | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Giving and Sending These are the most intuitive Dative verbs, where the case indicates the recipient. | ||
| дава́ть / дать to give | give to whom what? | Give me the book. |
| дари́ть / подари́ть to give as a gift | gift to whom what? | He gave her flowers. |
| отправля́ть / отпра́вить to send | send to whom what? | I sent a letter to a friend. |
| приноси́ть / принести́ to bring | bring to whom what? | Bring us some tea. |
| помога́ть / помо́чь to help | help whom? (with what?) | Can you help me? |
| Communication and Interaction In Russian, you don't just "call someone"; you "call to someone" using the Dative. | ||
| звони́ть / позвони́ть ⚠️ to call/phone | call to whom? | I will call mom. |
| говори́ть / сказа́ть to tell/say | tell to whom what? | Tell me the truth. |
| отвеча́ть / отве́тить to answer | answer to whom? (to what?) | He answered the teacher's question. |
| обеща́ть / пообеща́ть to promise | promise to whom what? | We promised the kids to go to the park. |
| писа́ть / написа́ть to write | write to whom what? (about what?) | Write to us more often. |
| сове́товать / посове́товать ⚠️ to advise | advise to whom what? | The doctor advised the patient to rest. |
| Permitting and forbidding These verbs often catch learners off guard because their English equivalents take a direct object, but Russian views them as providing a "service" to someone. | ||
| разреша́ть / разреши́ть to allow (formal/authoritative) | allow to whom what? | The doctor allowed me to work. |
| позволя́ть / позво́лить to allow (personal/situational) | allow to whom what? | The weather allows us to walk. |
| запреща́ть / запрети́ть to forbid | forbid to whom what? | Dad forbade his son to go for a walk. |
| Personal Attitudes and Feelings The Dative is used for the "experiencer" of an emotion or state. | ||
| нра́виться / понра́виться ⚠️ to like | what is pleasing to whom? | I like this music. Lit: To me this music is pleasing. |
| ве́рить / пове́рить to believe | believe whom? (in what?) | I believe you. |
| зави́довать / позави́довать ⚠️ to envy | envy whom? | Don't envy others. |
| улыба́ться / улыбну́ться ⚠️ to smile at | smile at whom? | She smiled at a passerby. |
| меша́ть / помеша́ть ⚠️ to disturb/interfere | disturb whom (in doing) what? | Don't disturb me while I'm working. |
| Other | ||
| сле́довать / после́довать to follow | follow whom? | Follow your heart. |
| соотве́тствовать to correspond/match | correspond/match to what? | This corresponds to the plan. |
| жа́ловаться / пожа́ловаться to complain | complain to whom? (about what?) | We complained to the director. |
| каза́ться / показа́ться to seem | seem to whom? (about what?) | It seems to me this is an error. |
| предлага́ть / предложи́ть to offer | offer to whom what? | I offer you tea. |
| передава́ть / переда́ть to transfer | transfer to whom what? | I transferred you tea. |
| возвраща́ть / верну́ть to return | return to whom what? | I returned you tea. |
| доверя́ть / дове́рить to trust, to entrust | trust whom? (about what?) | I entrusted you with the tea. |
| сочу́вствовать / посочу́вствовать to sympathize | sympathize to whom? | I sympathized with you. |
| благодаря́ thanks to | thanks to whom/what? | Thanks to the sunny weather, I can swim. |
| согла́сно according to | according to whom/what? | According to our contract... |
| навстре́чу towards | towards whom/what? | I went to meet a friend. |
Dative Declension Overview
Quick reference for nouns full rules and tables
| Noun | Dative Singular | Dative Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -у / -ю стол → столу́ учи́тель → учи́телю | -ам / -ям столы́ → стола́м учителя́ → учителя́м |
| Feminine | -е / -и* кни́га → кни́ге ноч → но́чи | -ам / -ям кни́ги → кни́гам но́чи → ноча́м |
| Neuter | -у / -ю окно́ → окну́ мо́ре → мо́рю | -ам / -ям о́кна → о́кнам моря́ → моря́м |
- Feminine Singular Ending (-и): Use -и for feminine nouns ending in -ь (like ночь) or nouns ending in -ия (like ста́нция → ста́нции). Most other feminine nouns take -е.
Quick reference for adjectives full rules and tables
| Adjective | Dative Singular | Dative Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -ому / -ему но́вый друг → но́вому дру́гу | -ым / -им но́вые друзья́ → но́вым друзья́м |
| Feminine | -ой / -ей но́вая кни́га → но́вой кни́ге | -ым / -им но́вые кни́ги → но́вым кни́гам |
| Neuter | -ому / -ему но́вое окно́ → но́вому окну́ | -ым / -им но́вые о́кна → но́вым о́кнам |
The "Masc/Neut" Rule: In almost every Russian case (except Nominative and Accusative), Masculine and Neuter adjectives use the same endings.
Feminine Similarity: The Dative Feminine ending (-ой / -ей) is identical to the Genitive, Instrumental, and Prepositional endings for feminine adjectives. If you learn it once, you've learned it for four cases.
The 7-Letter Spelling Rule: Remember that you can never write ы after the consonants к, г, х, ш, щ, ч, ж. In those cases, the plural ending will always be -им (e.g., ру́сский → ру́сским).
The "Rhyme" in Masc/Neut Singular: Notice how the adjective ending (-ому) and the noun ending (-у) create a distinct "u" sound at the end of the phrase. This makes Masculine/Neuter Dative very easy to hear.
The Plural Uniformity: Look at the Plural column. Regardless of whether the noun is Masculine, Feminine, or Neuter, the endings are almost identical (-ым/им for adjectives and -ам/ям for nouns).
Soft vs. Hard Stems:
Hard: но́в-ый (new) → но́вому / но́вым
Soft: си́н-ий (blue) → си́нему / си́ним
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