| nom. | gen. | dat. | acc. | inst. | prep. |
| The dative case, дательный падеж, is the third of the six Russian cases. It answers the following questions: кому? and чему? |
| It serves the purpose of indicating the indirect object in a sentence. |
Despite that there are many other uses for this case, some of which aren’t very logical.
The dative case is used…
| to indicate the indirect object in a sentence. |
Let’s compare these direct and indirect constructions.
| Я стригу волосы. I cut hair. | Что я стригу? What do I cut? |
| Я стригу ему волосы. I cut his hair. [lit. I cut to him hair.] | Кому я стригу волосы? Whose hair do I cut? [lit. To whom do I cut hair?] |
| Он покупает цветы. He buys flowers. | Что он покупает? What does he buy? |
| Он покупает ей цветы. He buys flowers for her. [lit. He buys to her flowers.] | Кому он покупает цветы? For whom does he buy flowers? [lit. To whom does he buy flowers?] |
The following verbs are always used with an indirect object.
There are far more verbs requiring a direct object than those requiring an indirect object, so please make note of these verbs!
| помогать-помочь [to help], дарить-подарить [to give -as a gift-], давать-дать [to give], говорить-сказать [to talk, to speak, to say], показывать-показать [to show], верить-поверить [to believe], доверять-доверить [to trust], звонить-позвонить [to call], etc. |
| Скажи мне правду, пожалуйста. Tell me the truth, please. |
| На вашем месте, я бы не доверил политикам. If I were you, I wouldn’t trust politicians. |
| Дай нам знать, когда ты будешь свободен. Let us know when you’ll be free. |
| В жизни самое важное – помогать людям. In life the most important thing is to help people. |
| with certain constructions relating to necessity, prohibition, etc. |
| надо [to need], нужно [to need], можно [to be allowed], нельзя [not to be allowed, prohibited], etc. |
| Бабушке нельзя пить вино. Grandma isn’t allowed to drink wine. |
| Президенту нужен переводчик. The president needs an interpreter. |
| Ребёнку надо убрать в комнате. The child has to clean the room. |
| Им можно выйти поиграть. They can go out and play. |
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| with certain constructions relating to feelings, sensations, etc. [done by putting using an adjective in its short neuter form] |
| Мне неловко при таких хорошеньких девушках. I feel awkward around such cute girls. |
| Детям скучно на уроке по истории. The children are bored at the history class. |
| Этому человеку весело на дискотеке. This man is having a good time at the club. |
| Ей сложно учить финский язык. It’s hard for her to learn Finnish. |
| with certain prepositions: к(о) [toward, for, etc.], по [through, by, via, on, along, etc.], согласно [according to], навстречу [toward]. |
| The prepositions к(о) and по, especially the latter of the two, have a multitude of meanings depending on the context. We’ll explore those meanings in a later post. |
| У тебя есть чувства ко мне? Do you have feelings for me? |
| Согласно прогнозу погоды, завтра будет ясно. According to the weather forecast, tomorrow it’ll be clear. |
| Я смотрю новости по телевизору. I watch the news on television. |
| Мы идём навстречу своим мечтам. We’re going for our dreams. |
That concludes today’s post on the dative case and its uses.
| Last Edit: 11/15/2025. |
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