The dative case

After this page you will be able to form the dative of most nouns in the singular and plural, and use it for the person you give something to, write to, phone or help. You will be able to say what you like with мені́ подо́бається, say how old you are, and say how you feel with phrases like мені́ хо́лодно. You will also know the few prepositions that take the dative.

Cases, an overview introduced the dative as the case for “to” or “for” someone. This page gives the endings and the main uses.

What the dative does

The dative usually names the person who receives something or who is affected by an action. In English this is often the word after to or for: give the book to my brother. Ukrainian uses no preposition here. The ending alone does the job.

The question for the dative is кому́? (to whom?) for people and чому́? (to what?) for things.

Singular endings

The ending depends on the kind of noun. The tables group nouns the way Ukrainian grammars do, by declension (відмі́на): roughly, feminine nouns in -а or -я; masculine and neuter nouns; and feminine nouns that end in a consonant. All the forms below come from the paradigms in the Горох dictionary [src: goroh-dictionary], and the endings follow the official orthography [src: pravopys-2026, §70, §83, §95].

Feminine nouns in -а and -я

These nouns take -і. After a vowel or an apostrophe, the ending is spelled -ї [src: pravopys-2026, §70].

Notice по́друга → по́друзі: the г changed to з. This change is explained near the end of this page.

The dative of these nouns is the same as their locative: сестрі́ can be “to my sister” or, after a preposition, “on my sister”. See The locative case.

Masculine nouns: -ові or -у

Most masculine nouns have two correct dative endings: -ові or -у. Soft-stem nouns, such as лі́кар, take -еві or -ю. After a vowel the long ending is spelled -єві [src: pravopys-2026, §83].

Both forms in each row are correct, and both are listed by the dictionary [src: goroh-dictionary]. A few things help you choose:

• Both endings can look like other cases. The short ending -у can also be the genitive or the locative: па́рку is all three for парк. After a preposition, -ові and -у can also be locative: на ба́тькові [src: pravopys-2026, §86, note 1]. Without a preposition, a noun for a person in -ові is dative.
• Vary them in a list. When several masculine nouns in the dative come together, the orthography recommends putting -ові or -еві first and -у or -ю after it, so that the endings are not all the same [src: pravopys-2026, §83, note].
• Town names in -ів take only -у. Names like Львів and Ки́їв have only the short ending: Льво́ву, Ки́єву [src: pravopys-2026, §83].

Neuter nouns: -у or -ю

Neuter nouns take -у, or -ю after a soft consonant [src: pravopys-2026, §83]. A few, such as мі́сто, can also take -ові.

Feminine nouns ending in a consonant

Feminine nouns like ніч (night) and ра́дість (joy) take -і [src: pravopys-2026, §95]. In some of them the vowel of the stem changes too: ніч → но́чі, сіль (salt) → со́лі [src: goroh-dictionary].

Ма́ти (mother) is irregular: its dative is ма́тері [src: pravopys-2026, §97]. In everyday speech most people say ма́ма, which is regular: ма́мі.

Plural endings

The plural is simple. All nouns take -ам, or -ям after a soft consonant or a vowel [src: pravopys-2026, §77, §90, §96].

Ді́ти (children) and лю́ди (people) are the plurals of дити́на and люди́на. They are worth learning as they are: ді́тям, лю́дям.

Pronouns in the dative

You will use the pronoun forms more often than any noun. They come from the official orthography’s table [src: pravopys-2026, §108]. A separate page has all the case forms of the pronouns. The dative has no н- forms: йому́, їй and їм stay the same even after a preposition.

Giving, writing, phoning and helping

Verbs of giving and telling take the receiver in the dative: дава́ти (to give), писа́ти (to write), каза́ти (to say, to tell). The thing given or written is in the accusative.

Some verbs take the dative where English has a direct object. These are worth learning together with the case:

• телефонува́ти (to phone): Я телефону́ю ма́мі. (I’m phoning Mum.) Usage guides prefer телефонува́ти to дзвони́ти for phone calls [src: goroh-usage].
• допомага́ти (to help): Він допомага́є бра́тові. (He helps his brother.) The dictionary defines it as giving help to someone, in the dative [src: goroh-dictionary].
• дя́кувати (to thank): Дя́кую вам! (Thank you!) In standard Ukrainian it takes only the dative [src: goroh-usage].

Мені подобається: what you like

The usual way to say “I like” turns the English sentence round. The thing you like is the subject, in the nominative. The person who likes it is in the dative. Literally, the city pleases me.

The verb подо́батися takes the dative of the person [src: goroh-dictionary]. Because the liked thing is the subject, the verb agrees with it, not with the person: подо́бається for one thing, подо́баються for several.

Saying your age

Age also uses the dative. Literally, Ukrainian says “to me are twenty years”.

The word for “year” changes with the number, as гри́вня does on the shopping page: оди́н рік (1), два роки (2 to 4), п’ять років (5 and up, including 11 to 14). In a longer number only the last word counts: два́дцять оди́н рік, два́дцять два роки [src: ukma-ukrainian-foreign-language, Lesson 8]. The dictionary accepts two stresses in роки and років, so they are shown without a mark [src: goroh-dictionary].

Мені холодно, мені треба: how you feel and what you need

Many words that describe a state are used with the dative of the person. There is no subject and no verb in the present tense. Literally, to me [it is] cold.

The dictionary gives хо́лодно with the dative of the person who feels cold, and its examples include мені́ ціка́во [src: goroh-dictionary]. Everyday needs has more on мені́ тре́ба and мені́ потрі́бен.

In the past and the future, add було́ or бу́де, always in this neuter form: Мені́ було́ хо́лодно. (I was cold.) Тобі́ бу́де ціка́во. (You’ll find it interesting. Informal: ти.)

Prepositions with the dative

Most prepositions take other cases. The dictionary marks only a few common ones as taking the dative [src: goroh-dictionary]:

Всу́переч and усу́переч are the same word, and the choice follows the у/в rule [src: pravopys-2026, §23]. Назу́стріч is first of all an adverb (towards each other); the dictionary lists its use as a preposition with the dative separately [src: goroh-dictionary].

Consonant changes before -і

Before the ending -і, the consonants г, к and х change to з, ц and с [src: pravopys-2026, §73, note]. This happens in the dative and in the locative of feminine nouns in -а.

Only the last consonant of the stem changes, so check what comes just before the ending: кни́га ends in -га and becomes кни́зі; ру́чка ends in -ка and becomes ру́чці.

Common mistakes and limits