The best way to think about dative, is with the verb a da (to give). First I gave (or the past participle) is dat secondly it's a nice regular verb often used in the dative.
Person | verb |
---|---|
eu | dau |
tu | dai |
el/ea | dă |
noi | dăm |
voi/dvs | dați |
ei/ele | dau |
(eu) dauI give
dau is always I give, whoever I am giving too. Similarly dă will always be he/she gives (whoever he/she is giving it too).
To define the recipient, one needs to refer to them (before saying who 'gives'), using the forms:
Person | Short Form | |
---|---|---|
me | îmi | -mi |
you | îți | -ți |
him/her | îi | -i |
us | ne | |
you (p) | vă | |
them | le |
The short form is used in combination with the past or negation.
The format is: <to whom> <action, in the form of of whoever is performing it>
Îmi dau…I give myself…
Îți dau…I give you…
nu-ți dau…I don't give you…
Remember the grammar of the verb remains unchanged, only the pronouns are changing to denote the recipient. Dau is always I give, whoever I am giving too. Similarly dă will always be he/she gives (whoever he/she is giving it too).
He gives a present:
You give a present:
These are verbs which are commonly used in the dative. Often verbs for the dative are written with an additional -i rather than just a, e.g. a-i fi rather than just a fi.
Îți explic.I explain to you.
nu-ți vând ceasul.I don't sell you the watch.
ce-ți dau?What do I give you?
ce-î dai?what do you give him/her?
ce ne dai?What do you give us?
A more advanced example:
Ea îi zămbește lui.She smiles at him.
Note: Initial “from” is optional and not normally used.
From | To | From | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giver | Who | Target | Who | Verb | |
eu | me | Îmi | me | dau | |
tu | you | Îți | you | dai | |
el/ea | him/her | Îi | him/her | dă | |
noi | us/we | Ne | us/we | dăm | |
voi/dvs | you | Vă | you | dați | |
ei/ele | they/them | Le | they/them | dau |
I give:
You give:
He/She gives:
We give:
You (polite/plural) give:
They give:
From | To | From | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giver | Who | Target | Who | Verb | |
eu | me | Îmi | me | spun | |
tu | you | Îți | you | spui | |
el/ea | him/her | Îi | him/her | spune | |
noi | us/we | Ne | us/we | spunem | |
voi/dvs | you | Vă | you | spuneți | |
ei/ele | they/them | Le | they/them | spun |
From | To | From | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giver | Who | Target | Who | Verb | |
eu | me | Îmi | me | trimit | |
tu | you | Îți | you | trimiți | |
el/ea | him/her | Îi | him/her | trimite | |
noi | us/we | Ne | us/we | trimitem | |
voi/dvs | you | Vă | you | trimiteți | |
ei/ele | they/them | Le | they/them | trimit |
From | To | From | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giver | Who | Target | Who | Verb | |
eu | me | Îmi | me | explic | |
tu | you | Îți | you | explici | |
el/ea | him/her | Îi | him/her | explică | |
noi | us/we | Ne | us/we | explicăm | |
voi/dvs | you | Vă | you | explicați | |
ei/ele | they/them | Le | they/them | explică |
From | To | From | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giver | Who | Target | Who | Verb | |
eu | me | Îmi | me | cer | |
tu | you | Îți | you | ceri | |
el/ea | him/her | Îi | him/her | cere | |
noi | us/we | Ne | us/we | cerem | |
voi/dvs | you | Vă | you | cereți | |
ei/ele | they/them | Le | they/them | cer |
From | To | From | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giver | Who | Target | Who | Verb | |
eu | me | Îmi | me | promit | |
tu | you | Îți | you | promiți | |
el/ea | him/her | Îi | him/her | promite | |
noi | us/we | Ne | us/we | promitem | |
voi/dvs | you | Vă | you | promiteți | |
ei/ele | they/them | Le | they/them | promit |
From | To | From | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giver | Who | Target | Who | Verb | |
eu | me | Îmi | me | ofer | |
tu | you | Îți | you | oferi | |
el/ea | him/her | Îi | him/her | oferă | |
noi | us/we | Ne | us/we | oferim | |
voi/dvs | you | Vă | you | oferiți | |
ei/ele | they/them | Le | they/them | oferă |
From | To | From | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giver | Who | Target | Who | Verb | |
eu | me | Îmi | me | vând | |
tu | you | Îți | you | vinzi | |
el/ea | him/her | Îi | him/her | vinde | |
noi | us/we | Ne | us/we | vindem | |
voi/dvs | you | Vă | you | vindeți | |
ei/ele | they/them | Le | they/them | vând |
In the past, we use the past form of the verb. And the short forms of the recipient. Remember for the past we use the
Recipient | Short Form | Auxiliary verb (Giver) | Verb | En | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eu | mi | + | am | dat | I |
Tu | ți | ai | dat | You | |
El/Ea | î | a | dat | Him/Her | |
Noi | ne | am | dat | Us | |
Voi/Dvs | vă | ați | dat | You (pl) | |
Ei/Ele | le | au | dat | Them |
The short form is used in combination with the past or negation.
The format is: <to whom> <Auxiliary verb> <action, in the past tense>
le-au dat…they gave to them…
ți-am dat… inima meaI gave you… my heart
The Genitive case (Wikipedia) marks a noun as modifying another noun. It often marks a noun as being the possessor of another noun. In english this is all that irritating apostrophe stuff “David's fish”.
Also see:
The masculine dative/genetive suffix is added to the singular definite form of any masculine or neuter word in the singular.
Singular: + ui Plural: + lor
Băiat, băiețiBoy, boys
Băiatul, băiețiiThe boy, The boys
Casa bâiatuluiThe boy's house (s)
Casa băiețiilorThe boys' house (p)
The feminine suffix is added to the plural indefinite of feminine words.
Singular: + ei Plural: + lor
Fată, feteGirl, girls
Fata, feteleThe girl, the girls
Casa feteiThe girl's house (s)
Casa fetelorThe girls' house (p)
See the forms of student
Studenta are bani.The student (f) has money.
Banii studentei.The student's (f) money.
Studentele au bani.The students (f) have money.
Banii Studentiei.The students' (f) money.