In Russian, we mostly use the dative case for nouns that would follow “to” or “for” in English. Very often this is the noun that receives an object, benefits from an action, or represents a goal of some kind.
In Russian, the dative case answers the questions кому?[kaMOO](to/for whom) or чему?[chiMOO](to/for what):
Кому Дэвид подарил подарок?
kaMOO deVEED padaREEL paDArak?
To whom did David give the gift?
Дэвид подарил подарок Анне.
deVEED padaREEL paDArak Anye.
David gave the gift (to) Anna.
К чему вы стремитесь?
k chiMOO vy striMEEtyes?
For what are you striving?
Я стремлюсь к успеху в работе.
ya strimLYUS k ooSPYEkhoo v raBOtye.
I strive for success at work.
In Russian, the dative case can also be used in a few special circumstances, such as telling age, expressing likes and dislikes, and with prepositions. In this post, we will introduce you to the forms of dative nouns, discuss when you use the dative case, and provide examples of its use in context.
The dative case is one of the six s in Russian, the others being nominative, genitive, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional. In Russian, a noun’s “case” is determined by the role it plays in a sentence and that case will, in turn, determine the endings the noun will have.
A noun or pronoun that is the of a sentence will be dative. These are usually nouns that, in English, might follow “to” or “for.” However, there are a few other situations where you’ll use the dative case as well. Any dative noun or pronoun will receive dative endings and will be described by dative adjectives.
The ending of a noun in the dative case will depend on the and of the noun. The basic endings are illustrated below.
Gender / Number | Dative Endings |
|---|---|
feminine singular | -е / -и / -ии |
masculine singular | -у / -ю |
neuter singular | -у / -ю |
plural (all genders) | -м / -ям / -ам |
Which endings a specific noun will take depends on its and on the noun’s declension (case-marking pattern), which you can identify by looking at the dictionary form (which is the nominative singular). Take a look at the chart below as a guide to how endings of nouns change in the dative case.
Russian dative noun endings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Gender | End of the dictionary form | Dative singular | Dative plural |
Feminine | -я | -я → -е | add -м |
-ь | -ь → -и | -ь → -ям | |
-а | -а → -е | add -м | |
-ия | -ия → -ии | add -м | |
Masculine | a consonant | add -у | add -ам |
-й | -й → -ю | -й → -ям | |
-ь | -ь → -ю | -ь → -ям | |
Neuter | -е | -е → -ю | -е → -ям |
-о | -о → -у | -о → -ам | |
If you’d like to see some examples, have a look at the downloadable chart of Russian dative at the bottom of this page.
Some Russian nouns will also lose a vowel in the dative. Take a look at some of the examples below in dative case. The lost vowel has been underlined in the singular, nominative case (dictionary form).
Nominative singular | Dative singular | Dative plural |
|---|---|---|
ботинок baTEEnak shoe | ботинку baTEENkoo to a shoe | ботинкам baTEENkam to shoes |
отец aTYETS father | oтцу aTSOO to the father | отцам aTSAM to the fathers |
Irregular nouns do not follow the usual case-marking rules, so their forms must be memorized. Below are the forms of some of the most common Russian irregular nouns in the dative singular and plural.
Nominative singular | Dative singular | Dative plural |
|---|---|---|
мать mat mother | матери MAtiri to mother | матерям matiRYAM to mothers |
дочь doch daughter | дочери DOcheri to daughter | дочерям dacherRYAM to daughters |
сын syn son | сыну* SYnoo to son | сыновьям synavYAM to sons |
The table below gives the dative forms of Russian personal pronouns.
Dative case pronouns | |
|---|---|
Nominative | Dative |
я ya I | мне mnye for me |
ты ty you (sg.) | тебе tiBYE for you |
он on he / it (m.) | ему yeMOO for him / it (m.) |
она aNA she / it (f.) | ей yey for her / it (f.) |
оно aNO it (n.) | ему yeMOO to it (n.) |
мы my we | нам nam to us |
вы vy you (pl. / fml.) | мне vam to you |
они aNEE they | им eem to them |
A Russian adjective needs to be in the dative case if it describes a dative noun. Dative adjectives are formed by adding the dative adjective endings to the adjective . These endings are a little bit easier to manage and memorize, because there are only two ending options for each gender: one for stems that end in a and one for those that end in .
Hard stem | Soft stem | |
|---|---|---|
Masculine / Neuter | -ому -amoo | -ему -emoo |
Feminine | -ой -ay | -ей -ey |
Plural | -ым -ym | -им -im |
You can usually use this shortcut to identify whether an adjective has a hard or soft stem:
If the dictionary form ends in -ый, it has a hard stem.
If the dictionary form ends in -ий, it has a soft stem.
For full details on hard vs. soft consonants, though, check out our post on the Russian alphabet.
Take a look at some examples:
Case and gender | Hard adjective example | Soft adjective example |
|---|---|---|
Nominative masculine | новый NOviy new | хороший khaROshyiiy good |
Dative masculine | новому NOvamoo | хорошему khaROshemoo |
Dative feminine | новой NOvay | хорошей khaROshey |
Dative neuter | новому NOvamoo | хорошему khaROshemoo |
Dative plural | новым NOvym | хорошим khaROshim |
This list includes more examples of hard and soft adjectives in the dative case. Can you identify the number and gender of each?
Hard adjectives:
открытой[atKRYtai](to the open)
старому[STAromoo](to the old)
холодным[khaLODnim](to the cold)
Soft adjectives:
летнему[LETnimoo](to the summer)
синей[SEEney](to the blue)
ранним[RAnim](to the early)
The most common situation in which you will use the dative case is to identify the indirect object of a sentence. Typically, the indirect object is the person, place, or thing that receives a noun or that benefits from an action — the type of noun that could follow “to” or “for.”
Look at these examples:
Мама купила ребенку игрушку.
MAma kooPEEla riBYONkoo igROOshkoo.
Mom bought the child a toy.
Мама предложила нам помочь на кухне.
MAma predloZHIla nam paMOch na KOOHne.
Mom offered to help us in the kitchen.
Check out our post to learn more about using the dative case with indirect objects in Russian for more examples of this type of usage.
However, the dative case has some other uses as well. These are outlined below.
When asking and telling someone’s age in Russian, we use the pronoun or their name in the dative case. This is because we are literally saying that someone has some number of years “to” them. For example:
Наташе десять лет.
naTAshe DYEsyat lyet.
Natasha is ten years old.
lit. To Natasha are ten years.
Ей семнадцать лет.
yey simNAtsat lyet.
She is seventeen years old.
lit. To her are seventeen years.
We also use the dative to ask about someone’s age.
сколько
SKOlka
how many
DATIVE
лет
lyet
years
Сколько тебе лет?
SKOlka tiBYE lyet?
How old are you?
In Russian, you can use the dative case for a noun that “to” or “for” another noun. For example:
Вам письмо.
vam pisMO.
There's a letter for you.
А какая польза ей от этого?
a kaKAya POLza yey at Etava?
And how does she benefit from it?
lit. And what is the benefit to her from it?
помеха моему успеху
paMYEkha mayeMOO oosPYEkhoo
an obstacle to my success
угроза Европе
ooGROza yevROpye
threat to Europe
We will often use the dative case in Russian for the name of someone who needs something. “Needing” is commonly expressed using the short adjective нужен[NOOzhen](needed), which agrees with whatever someone needs. For example:
Тане нужна ручка.
TAnye noozhNA ROOchka.
Tanya needs a pen.
lit. A pen is needed for Tanya.
Тебе нужны каникулы.
tiBYE noozhNY kaNEEkooly.
You need a vacation.
lit. A vacation is needed for you.
Do you see that in the examples above, the people doing the needing, Tanya and “you,” are both in the dative case?
The dative case is very commonly found in sentences that express someone’s preferences or feelings. The person experiencing the feeling in sentences like these will be in the dative case while the thing they have a feeling about will be in the nominative.
We therefore often use the dative with the very common verb нравиться[NRAvitsa](to like). It can help you remember that the “liker” is dative if you think of it as meaning “to be pleasing.” For example:
Игорю нравится Лена.
EEgaryu NRAvitsa LYEna.
Igor likes Lena.
Мне нравится гулять по городу.
mnye NRAvitaa gooLYAT pa GOradoo.
I like walking around the city.
Каролине не нравятся дождливые дни.
karaLEEnye nye NRAvyatsa dazhdLEEviye dni.
Carolina does not like rainy days.
Sentences that use the dative this way are called “impersonal” sentences. For a lot more examples and discussion of this use of the dative, check out our post on impersonal sentences in Russian!
The dative case can be “triggered” by certain prepositions in Russian. The most common ones are:
Dative Preposition | Translation |
|---|---|
по[pa] | according to, along, about, around |
к/ко[k/ka] | to, toward |
согласно[sagLASna] | in agreement with |
вопреки[vapriKEE] | against, despite |
благодаря[blagadaRYA] | thanks to |
наперекор[napiriKOR] | in defiance of, contrary to |
For example:
Мокрый лист прилип к стеклу.
MOkriy leest priLEEP k stikLOO.
The wet leaf stuck to the glass.
По телевизору идёт интересная передача.
pa tiliVEEzaroo iDYOT intiRYESnaya piriDAcha.
There is an interesting program on television.
Check out our post for a richer discussion of the Russian dative prepositions and how to use them!
There are a few verbs that have a dative object that is not preceded by a preposition. In general, these are verbs whose object is abstractly a destination, a target of feelings, or a recipient. Here are a few examples:
Russian Verb | Translation |
|---|---|
позвонить[zvaNEEt] | to call |
верить[VYErit] | to believe |
завидовать[zaVEEdavat] | to envy |
помогать[pamagaty] | to help |
врать[vrat] | to lie to |
In a sentence these would look like this:
Ребенок улыбался маме.
reBYOnak oolyBALsya MAme.
The child smiled at the mother.
Зрители аплодировали любимому артисту.
ZREEteli aplaDEEravali lyuBEEmamoo arTEEstoo.
The audience applauded for their favorite artist.
For more verbs, download the list of common Russian verbs that take dative objects at the bottom of this page!
In this post, we discussed the dative case in Russian and introduced you to the endings of dative nouns and adjectives.
We also introduced the major uses of the dative case:
names the indirect object of a sentence
is used to:
tell age
express need
express likes and dislikes
with the preposition к
Ready for the next step? Try out the exercises below!
