Giving to Someone

Level 2

With verbs such as dot (give), rakstīt (write), sūtīt (send) and pirkt (buy), the receiver is in the dative: Es dodu grāmatu brālim. The dative ending does the work of English to or for.

How It Works

Many verbs describe something passing to a person: dot (to give), iedot (to hand), sūtīt (to send), rakstīt (to write), stāstīt (to tell), teikt (to say), rādīt (to show), pirkt and nopirkt (to buy), dāvināt (to give as a present), atnest (to bring). With them:

  • the thing is in the accusative: grāmatu, vēstuli, ziedus
  • the person who receives it is in the dative: brālim, mammai, draudzenei, bērniem

Es dodu grāmatu brālim. (I give the book to my brother.)
Nopirku draudzenei ziedus. (I bought flowers for my girlfriend.)

No preposition. English uses to or for, but Latvian uses only the ending. Uz and pie are for places and visits, so neither of them marks a receiver.

Word order. Both orders are correct: Es dodu brālim grāmatu and Es dodu grāmatu brālim. The last word sounds like the new information (see new information last). A short dative pronoun often comes early: Es tev iedevu atslēgu. (I gave you the key.)

Just the person. The thing can be left out: Es rakstu mammai. (I am writing to Mum.) Viņš man neko neteica. (He did not say anything to me.)

Meant for someone. The dative also marks who something is for, even without a verb of giving: Tā kafija ir tev. (That coffee is for you.) Careful standard Latvian uses the dative here, while priekš tevis belongs to casual speech; see the dative instead of priekš.

Examples (6)

  1. Es dodu grāmatu brālim.

    I give the book to my brother.

    The book is accusative (grāmatu), and the receiver is dative (brālim).

  2. Es rakstu mammai.

    I am writing to Mum.

    The thing written can be left out. Mammai alone shows who gets it.

  3. Nopirku draudzenei ziedus.

    I bought flowers for my girlfriend.

    The dative draudzenei gives the meaning of English for, with no preposition.

  4. Viesmīle atnesa mums kafiju.

    The waitress brought us coffee.

    Mums is the dative of mēs.

  5. Es stāstu bērniem pasaku.

    I am telling the children a fairy tale.

    Bērniem is a masculine dative plural.

  6. Vai tu iedevi Jānim atslēgu?

    Did you give Jānis the key?

    Jānis → Jānim, a 2nd-declension dative.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the receiver in the accusative.

    Es iedevu brāli grāmatu.
    Es iedevu brālim grāmatu.

    Only the thing given is accusative. The person who gets it must be dative: brālim.

  • Adding uz for "to" a person.

    Es rakstu vēstuli uz mammu.
    Es rakstu vēstuli mammai.

    Uz with the accusative means movement to a place. The person who receives a letter is simply dative, with no preposition.

How It Connects

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

Giving to SomeoneLevel 2

Learn This First

Indirect objects use the dative.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.