How to use the dative case in Russian?

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? (transcribed kaMOO, meaning “to/for whom”) or чему? (transcribed chiMOO, meaning “to/for what”):

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 cases 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 indirect object 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 gender and number of the noun. The basic endings are illustrated below.

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.

If you’d like to see some examples, have a look at the downloadable chart of Russian dative at the bottom of this page.

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:

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.

• To communicate someone’s age

  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:

  dative case

  Наташе десять лет.

  Transcription: naTAshe DYEsyat lyet.

  Translation: Natasha is ten years old.

  Literally: lit. To Natasha are ten years.

  Ей семнадцать лет.

  Transcription: yey simNAtsat lyet.

  Translation: She is seventeen years old.

  Literally: lit. To her are seventeen years.

  We also use the dative to ask about someone’s age.

  сколько

  Transcription: SKOlka

  Translation: how many

  

  DATIVE

  

  лет

  Transcription: lyet

  Translation: years

  Сколько тебе лет?

  Transcription: SKOlka tiBYE lyet?

  Translation: How old are you?

• For a noun that is “to” or “for” another noun

  In Russian, you can use the dative case for a noun that “to” or “for” another noun. For example:

  dative case

  Вам письмо.

  Transcription: vam pisMO.

  Translation: There's a letter for you.

  А какая польза ей от этого?

  Transcription: a kaKAya POLza yey at Etava?

  Translation: And how does she benefit from it?

  Literally: lit. And what is the benefit to her from it?

  помеха моему успеху

  Transcription: paMYEkha mayeMOO oosPYEkhoo

  Translation: an obstacle to my success

  угроза Европе

  Transcription: ooGROza yevROpye

  Translation: threat to Europe

• When talking about something someone needs using “нужен”

  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 (transcribed NOOzhen, meaning “needed”), which agrees with whatever someone needs. For example:

  dative case

  Тане нужна ручка.

  Transcription: TAnye noozhNA ROOchka.

  Translation: Tanya needs a pen.

  Literally: lit. A pen is needed for Tanya.

  Тебе нужны каникулы.

  Transcription: tiBYE noozhNY kaNEEkooly.

  Translation: You need a vacation.

  Literally: 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?

• When expressing preferences or feelings

  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 (transcribed NRAvitsa, meaning “to like”). It can help you remember that the “liker” is dative if you think of it as meaning “to be pleasing.” For example:

  dative case

  Игорю нравится Лена.

  Transcription: EEgaryu NRAvitsa LYEna.

  Translation: Igor likes Lena.

  Think: “Lena is pleasing to Igor.”

  Мне нравится гулять по городу.

  Transcription: mnye NRAvitaa gooLYAT pa GOradoo.

  Translation: I like walking around the city.

  Think: “Walking around the city is pleasing to me.”

  Каролине не нравятся дождливые дни.

  Transcription: karaLEEnye nye NRAvyatsa dazhdLEEviye dni.

  Translation: Carolina does not like rainy days.

  Think: “Rainy days are not pleasant to Carolina.”

  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!

• After certain prepositions

  The dative case can be “triggered” by certain prepositions in Russian. The most common ones are:

  Dative Preposition	Translation
  по (transcribed pa)	according to, along, about, around
  к/ко (transcribed k/ka)	to, toward
  согласно (transcribed sagLASna)	in agreement with
  вопреки (transcribed vapriKEE)	against, despite
  благодаря (transcribed blagadaRYA)	thanks to
  наперекор (transcribed napiriKOR)	in defiance of, contrary to

  For example:

  dative case

  Мокрый лист прилип к стеклу.

  Transcription: MOkriy leest priLEEP k stikLOO.

  Translation: The wet leaf stuck to the glass.

  По телевизору идёт интересная передача.

  Transcription: pa tiliVEEzaroo iDYOT intiRYESnaya piriDAcha.

  Translation: 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!

• For the objects of certain verbs

  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 (transcribed zvaNEEt)	to call
  верить (transcribed VYErit)	to believe
  завидовать (transcribed zaVEEdavat)	to envy
  помогать (transcribed pamagaty)	to help
  врать (transcribed vrat)	to lie to

  In a sentence these would look like this:

  dative case

  Ребенок улыбался маме.

  Transcription: reBYOnak oolyBALsya MAme.

  Translation: The child smiled at the mother.

  Зрители аплодировали любимому артисту.

  Transcription: ZREEteli aplaDEEravali lyuBEEmamoo arTEEstoo.

  Translation: 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!