Third Case: Dative

The dative case in Russian is called дательный падеж. The name itself gives you a clue when to use it. In дательный, you find дать, which means “to give” (also давать—see here for conjugations). This originates from Latin, where dare means “to give” and datum means “given.” In Russian, when something is given, it’s done in the dative case, just like in many other languages.

Use дательный падеж when someone or something receives something. Here’s how and when to use it.

Usage

You use дательный падеж in the following situations.

Indirect Object

When something is given or directed at someone. Often, the recipient is a person, and the dative case takes over the role of “to” or “for.”

I recommend this book to my students (or: I recommend my students this book): “my students” (мои студенты) in the dative case. Я рекомендую эту книгу моим студентам.

He tells jokes to friends (or: He tells friends jokes): “friends” (друзья, the recipients) in the dative case. Он рассказывает анекдоты друзьям.

For more examples, see Beginning Russian: Dative Case. Indirect Object. Common Verbs -1 (Amazing Russian, 2018, 15 m).

Addressing Someone

Even names change when you address someone. Just like on an envelope, the recipient gets a dative case ending. “To Vladimir Putin” becomes Владимиру Путину. No need for “to” in Russian, just the appropriate dative ending (у in this case).

Verbs

You use the dative case not just with дать (to give) but also with verbs like дарить (to gift), купить (to buy), приносить (to bring), and посылать (to send)—but only if there’s a recipient.*

You also use the dative case with помогать (to help), платить (to pay), звонить (to call), and other verbs that involve sending or directing something to someone. This also applies to verbs where you can imagine adding “to” or “for,” like говорить, сказать, рассказывать (to speak, say, tell), советовать (to advise), предлагать (to offer), отвечать (to answer), объяснять (to explain), сообщать (to communicate), and писать (to write).

Check out this animated summary from Victoria Arysheva.

Age

In Russian, when you state your age, it’s like saying “20 years are given to me.” Since you’re the recipient, the dative case is used. To say “I am 20,” you say мне 20 лет.

See:

• Telling Your Age in Russian (Alfia, 2019, 13 m)
• Сколько лет? (русский с носителем, 2018, 7 m)
• Expressing Age in Russian with Dative Case Pronouns (Russian grammar, 2014, 4 m)

Dative Case. Expressing Age. Сколько лет?
(Amazing Russian, 2018, 12 m)

Feelings

When you say “I feel hot” in Russian, you’re actually saying “to me, it is hot.” Feelings are “given” to you, so you use the dative case: мне жарко. Similarly, мне холодно (I’m cold), мне страшно (I’m scared), and so on.

See:

• Dative: Indicating How Someone Feels (Amazing Russian, 2020, 9 m)
• Russian Grammar: talking about Emotions and Feelings (Dative case) (Anna Cher, 2020, 6 m)

If you like something, it’s also expressed with the dative case, as in нравиться: тебе нравится (you like it).

See:

• Liking Verb: нравиться – понравиться (Amazing Russian, 2017, 17 m)
• How to Say I Like Someone or Something in Russian (FunRussian, 2013, 4 m)

The same applies when expressing needs, using verbs like нужен or надо.

See:

• нужен / нужна / нужно / нужны (Shannon Spasova, 2019, 4 m)
• Надо vs Нужно in Russian Language (Be Fluent in Russian, 2018, 5 m)
• Modal Verb Need in Russian: нужно, нужен, нужна, нужны? (Ru-Land Club, 2017, 8 m)

Prepositions к and по

You use к (toward) when heading to someone (not something). For example, you go к someone, but на or в something. You also use к to express “until” or “towards,” as in к сожалению (unfortunately) or к счастью (fortunately). “You’ll get used to it” becomes ты привыкнешь к этому.

По is highly versatile and often translates to “per,” “via,” or “over.” For instance, по телефону means “by phone.” An экзамен по русскому языку is an exam on the Russian language (not in Russian—на русском языке).

See:

• Preposition ПО / Meanings (Live Russian, 2018, 10 m)
• Приставка ПО- (русский с носителем, 2020, 7 m)

Conjugation

The personal pronouns change to мне, тебе, ему, ей, нам, вам, and им.
Кто (who) becomes кому, and что (what) becomes чему.

Nouns

Masculine and neuter nouns take у or ю in the dative case (like Путину). Feminine nouns take e or и (for example, -ия becomes -ии). Plural nouns end in -ам (like студентам) or -ям (like друзьям).

For more examples, see Дательный падеж. Существительные. Часть 1 (О русском по-русски, 2019, 14 m).

Dative Case Noun Endings in Russian
(Russian grammar, 2014, 5 m)

Adjectives

Masculine and neuter adjectives take -ому or -ему, while feminine ones take -ой or -ей. Plurals take -ым or -им.

See:

• Дательный падеж (3) | Прилагательные. Падежи (О русском по-русски, 2020, 20 m)
• Dative case in Russian. Endings (Russian Language for Life and Work, 2018, 12 m)

Dative Adjective Endings
(Russian grammar, 2018, 4 m)

More

• Dative case Russian language. Learn Russian grammar (Umashi Learn Russian, 2020, 10 m)
• Learn Russian – Dative Case (Alfia, 2019, 13 m)
• Dative Case – Part 1 (Anna Cher, 2019, 7 m)
• Russian Dative Case with Nouns, overall (R for Russian, 2018, 27 m)

last update: 26-10-2020