Russian Dative case (Да́тельный паде́ж)
Russian Dative case applies to the indirect object of a sentence.
The indirect object can be someone (or something) who receives the direct object.
Example:
Ма́ша даёт сэ́ндвич соба́ке ("Masha is giving a sandwich to a dog.")
Sandwich (direct object) what was given to a dog (indirect object).
Dative case must be applied to the word "dog".
Ма́ша даёт сэ́ндвич соба́ке
Usage of Russian Dative case
Dative case must be applied to the Nominative form of a noun
Let's analyze our example: Ма́ша даёт сэ́ндвич соба́ке
Ма́ша - name
даёт - conjugated verb form "дава́ть" (to give)
сэ́ндвич - sandwich
соба́ке - "dog" in dative form
Using Dative case on the word "соба́ка"
1. Determine the gender of a noun. Соба́ка is Feminine
2. Remove the last letter of the nominative form of a noun. Remove the last "a" in the word соба́ка (Nominative form)
3. Add the appropriate ending based on the rules below. Соба́ка changes to соба́ке
Rules of Russian Dative case (Singular form)
| MASCULINE NOUN (Nominative) | Remove | Add ending | MASCULINE NOUN (Dative) |
| това́рищ (comrade) | if consonant, do not remove | у | това́рищу |
| ча́й (tea) | й | ю | ча́ю |
| учи́тель (teacher) | ь | ю | учи́телю |
| FEMININE NOUN (Nominative) | Remove | Add ending | FEMININE NOUN (Dative) |
| соба́ка (dog) | а | е | соба́ке |
| семья́ (family) | я | е | семье́ |
| две́рь (door) | ь | и | две́ри |
| ста́нция (station) | ия | ии | ста́нции |
| NEUTER NOUN (Nominative) | Remove | Add ending | NEUTER NOUN (Dative) |
| письмо́ (letter) | о | у | письму́ |
| зда́ние (building) | е | ю | зда́нию |
Rules of Russian Dative case (Plural form)
The easiest way to make the plural form of Dative case is to conjugate the noun of Nominative plural.
| Nominative Plural | Remove | Add Ending | Dative Plural |
| магази́ны (stores) | ы | ам | магази́нам |
| бра́тья (brothers) | я | ям | бра́тьям |
| If soft consonant before "и" | |||
| учи́тели (teachers) | и | ям | учителя́м |
| if hard consonant before "и" | |||
| кни́ги (books) | и | ам | кни́гам |
Russian Dative Case: Tips
1. Russian Dative case can be used instead of Accusative, after some verbs:
Examples:
помога́ть - to help
Анто́н помога́ет Ма́ше (Anton helps Masha)
сове́товать - to advise
Ма́ша сове́тует Анто́ну (Masha advises Anton)
2. Dative case can also be used before reflexive verbs with special ending "ся".
Example:
Ма́ше нра́вится Москва́ (Masha likes Moscow)
3. Dative case can be used with the preposition "to" when it expresses sending or communicating something (call to, write to, send to, bring to)
Example:
Ма́ша звони́т ма́ме (Masha calls mom)
4. Dative case can be used to express age.
Example:
Маше 8 лет (Masha is 8 years old)
Related:
5. Personal pronouns can also be used in Dative case
Example:
Мне хорошо. (I'm good/I feel good)
Related:
Personal Pronouns of Russian Dative case
| Nominative | Dative | |||||
| Russian | Transcript | English | Russian | Transcript | English | |
| Singular | Я | [Ya] | I | Мне | [Mne] | Me |
| Ты | [Ti] | You (informal) | Тебе́ | [Tebe] | You (informal) | |
| Он | [On] | He | Ему́ | [Yemu] | Him | |
| Она́ | [Ona] | She | Е́й | [Yey] | Her | |
| Оно́ | [Ono] | It | Ему́ | [Yemu] | It | |
| Plural | Мы | [Mi] | We | Нам | [Nam] | Us |
| Вы | [Vi] | You (formal/pl) | Вам | [Vam] | You (formal/pl) | |
| Они́ | [Oni] | They | Им | [im] | Them | |
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