Dative Singular Endings

Level 2Sounds Like davalʹny adzínočnaga líku: kančatkí

The dative answers каму? (to whom?). Masculine and neuter nouns end in -у/-ю: брату, акну. Feminine nouns in -а/-я end in -е, -ы or -і: маме, сястры, бабулі.

How It Works

1. Masculine and neuter nouns: -у / -ю.

  • Hard stem → -у: брат → брату, сябар → сябру, дом → дому, акно → акну
  • Soft stem → -ю: Алесь → Алесю, конь → каню, поле → полю

Masculine nouns that end in -а, such as тата and дзядзька, also take -у: тату, дзядзьку (see masculine nouns in -а).

2. Feminine nouns in -а / -я.

  • Most hard stems → -е: мама → маме, школа → школе. Д and т become дз and ц: вада → вадзе, хата → хаце (see tsekanye and dzekanye).
  • Г, к, х become з, ц, с: кніга → кнізе, нага → назе, муха → мусе. After this new ц the ending is -э when stressed and -ы when unstressed: рука → руцэ, дачка → дачцэ, but сяброўка → сяброўцы. See г, к and х before -е.
  • Stems ending in the always-hard ж, ш, ч, р, ц → -ы: сястра → сястры, мяжа → мяжы, вуліца → вуліцы.
  • Soft stems in -я → -і: зямля → зямлі, бабуля → бабулі, Таня → Тані.

3. Feminine nouns ending in a consonant: -і / -ы. соль → солі, радасць → радасці; after ж, ш, ч, р the ending is -ы: ноч → ночы, печ → печы.

Good news: for feminine nouns the dative singular looks the same as the locative, so one set of endings serves both cases.

Examples (6)

  1. Я даю кнігу брату.

    I give the book to my brother.

    Брат → брату: a hard masculine stem takes -у.

  2. Я тэлефаную маме.

    I am calling my mom.

    Мама → маме: a hard feminine stem takes -е.

  3. Я дапамагаю сястры.

    I help my sister.

    Сястра → сястры: after р the ending is -ы.

  4. Я пішу бабулі.

    I am writing to grandma.

    Бабуля → бабулі: a soft stem takes -і.

  5. Мама чытае казку дачцэ.

    Mom is reading a fairy tale to her daughter.

    Дачка → дачцэ: к becomes ц, and the stressed ending is -э.

  6. Хлопчык дае каню яблык.

    The boy gives the horse an apple.

    Конь → каню: a soft masculine stem takes -ю.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping к before the ending.

    Мама чытае казку дачке.
    Мама чытае казку дачцэ.

    Before this ending к changes to ц, and after ц a stressed ending is spelled -э: дачцэ.

  • Using -е after р.

    Я дапамагаю сястре.
    Я дапамагаю сястры.

    Р is always hard in Belarusian, so a feminine noun in -ра takes -ы: сястры.

  • Giving a masculine noun in -а the feminine ending.

    Я тэлефаную тате.
    Я тэлефаную тату.

    Masculine nouns ending in -а, such as тата and дзядзька, take -у in the dative: тату, дзядзьку.

How It Connects

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Dative Singular EndingsLevel 2

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Dative endings follow the case overview.

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