Dative Case

The dative (дательный падеж) marks the recipient: the person to whom something is given, said, or shown. It answers кому? (to whom?) and чему? (to what?). It's the case of the indirect object, and it also drives a whole family of "to me it is…" constructions.

The dative singular is one of the easier sets: masculine and neuter share -у/-ю, and feminine takes -е. The plural is the same for every gender.

The dative has four everyday jobs.

1. The indirect object, the recipient: писать другу.
2. Dative verbs: some verbs simply govern it: звонить, помогать, верить, нравиться.
3. The experiencer, the "to me it is…" pattern: мне холодно, мне нужно, мне двадцать лет.
4. Prepositions: к (toward) and по (along / each): к врачу, по улице.

A sentence with giving has two objects: the thing given (accusative) and the person it goes to (dative). Watch both at once:

фотографию is the direct object (accusative), другу the recipient (dative). With the dative done, only two cases remain: the instrumental and the prepositional.

Building "I like" like English. Don't make yourself the subject: it's Мне нравится…, never Я нравлюсь… (which means "people like me").

Using the accusative for dative verbs. звонить, помогать, верить take the dative: say звоню другу, not звоню друга.

Putting age in the nominative. The person whose age it is goes in the dative: мне двадцать лет, not я двадцать лет.