pomoći / vjerovati + Dative

Verbs Taking a Dative

Level 2

Pomažem prijatelju means I help a friend, and Vjerujem ti means I trust you. These common constructions use a dative person.

How It Works

Perfective pomoći and imperfective pomagati commonly take a dative person receiving help: Pomogao sam Ani. and Pomažem bratu. The thing being done can be expressed separately.

Vjerujem ti. places the trusted person in the dative. A full noun phrase behaves the same way: Vjerujem svojoj sestri. A belief introduced with u is a different construction.

Case choice belongs to a meaning and construction, not an absolute ban on every other frame. For example, dictionaries also record accusative pomoći in a financial-support sense. Start with the everyday dative help and trust patterns presented here.

Examples (4)

  1. Pomažem prijatelju.

    I am helping a friend.

    Prijatelju is dative.

  2. Pomogla sam Ani.

    I helped Ana.

    A female speaker uses pomogla; Ani is the dative recipient of help.

  3. Vjerujem ti.

    I trust you.

    Ti is a dative pronoun.

  4. Vjerujem svojoj sestri.

    I trust my sister.

    Svojoj sestri is a dative noun phrase.

How It Connects

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

pomoći / vjerovati + DativeLevel 2Verbs Taking a Dative

Learn This First

The verb or directional preposition selects the dative forms already introduced.

Words in This Pattern

pomoćipomoćivjerovati