Nouns: Dative Case

01

The Recipient

Verbs of giving, sending, telling and showing put the receiver in the dative, while the thing handed over stays in the accusative.

• Dao sam poklon ocu.

  I gave a gift to my father.

• poklon the gift - accusative, the thing handed over
• oc- father, -u the dative ending - the one who receives it
• nothing corresponds to English "to"; the -u is the whole of it

• Ona čita knjigu sinu.

  She is reading a book to her son.

• Šef je svima poklonio bocu vina.

  The boss gave everyone a bottle of wine.

02

The Endings

• Feminine -a → -i: žena → ženi, majka → majci
• Masculine and neuter → -u: otac → ocu, sin → sinu, dijete → djetetu
• Plural → -ima: ljudi → ljudima, žene → ženama

A k, g or h at the end of a feminine noun softens before this -i: majka becomes majci, not "majki". The same softening turns up in the locative, which shares these endings.

The dative and the locative are spelt alike; what tells them apart is that the locative always has a preposition, while the dative usually does not.

03

Pronouns in the Dative

The personal pronouns have short dative forms you will hear constantly: mi (to me), ti (to you), mu (to him), joj (to her), nam (to us), vam (to you), im (to them).

• Reci mi šta nije u redu.

  Tell me what is wrong.

• Kako vam mogu pomoći?

  How can I help you?

• Možeš li mi dati primjer?

  Can you give me an example?

04

The Dative of Feeling

A very common pattern puts the person who experiences a feeling in the dative, with the state expressed impersonally. This has its own topic, the Dative of Experience.

• Hladno mi je.

  I am cold. (literally: to me it is cold)

• Drago mi je.

  I am pleased.

• Sviđa mi se tvoja kosa.

  I like your hair.

05

Some Verbs Govern the Dative

A few verbs take a dative object where English would expect a direct one - notably pomoći (to help) and vjerovati (to believe).

• Mogu li vam pomoći?

  Can I help you?

06

Adjectives Can Govern It Too

An adjective that points at a person - familiar, known, useful to someone - puts that person in the dative, with no preposition.

• Ova ulica je poznata turistima.

  This street is famous to tourists.

07

Prepositions

The dative follows prema (towards / according to) and k / ka (to a person).

• Moj šef je bezobrazan prema meni.

  My boss is rude to me.

• Idemo prema gradu.

  We are heading towards the city.