Giving and Telling

Level 3

Receiver in the dative, thing in the accusative: Dao sam bratu knjigu. A short pronoun is even easier: Dao sam mu knjigu.

How It Works

These verbs have two parts to fill: a person who receives and a thing that is given. The person is in the dative, and the thing is in the accusative.

VerbExample
dati (give)Dao sam sestri knjigu.
reći (tell)Rekla sam mu istinu.
pokazati (show)Pokazat ću vam grad.
kupiti (buy)Kupio sam majci ruže.
poslati (send)Poslala sam Lejli poruku.

With a pronoun, use the short form: mi, ti, mu, joj, nam, vam, im. It goes right after the first word or after the helper verb: Dao sam mu knjigu, Pokazat ću vam grad.

Other verbs of this kind are pisati (write to), objasniti (explain), pomoći (help) and vjerovati (trust). In English you often use "to" or "for". In Bosnian the case does the work, so you leave out the little word.

Examples (5)

  1. Dao sam mu knjigu.

    I gave him a book.

    Mu is the dative for the receiver.

  2. Rekla sam joj istinu.

    I told her the truth.

    Joj is the dative of ona.

  3. Kupio sam majci ruže.

    I bought my mother some roses.

    Majci is the dative of majka.

  4. Pokazat ću vam grad.

    I will show you the city.

    Vam is the polite dative.

  5. Amir je poslao Lejli poruku.

    Amir sent Lejla a message.

    Lejli is a name in the dative.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the receiver in the accusative.

    Rekao sam njega istinu.
    Rekao sam mu istinu.

    The person who is told goes in the dative.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Giving and TellingLevel 3

Learn This First

Giving and telling take the dative.

Words in This Pattern

datirećipokazatiposlatidativ