Dative Plural Endings

The dative case answers the questions komu? czemu? (to whom? to what?). While Polish plurals can be notoriously complex in other cases, the dative plural is the "great equalizer" because it neutralizes all gender distinctions.

1. Nouns:
Standard plural nouns in modern Polish, whether masculine-personal, feminine, or neuter, take the ending -om. Note that this ending must be attached to the plural stem, which is sometimes irregular.

• kobieta (woman) → kobietom
• dziecko (child) → dzieciom (irregular plural stem)
• brat (brother) → braciom (irregular plural stem)
• przyjaciel (friend) → przyjaciołom (irregular plural stem)

Note: Words that function as nouns but decline like adjectives (substantivized adjectives) take the adjectival endings -ym or -im instead of -om. For example: znajomy (acquaintance) → znajomym, dane (data) → danym. Also, the formal word państwo (ladies and gentlemen / formal you plural) is functionally plural but borrows the singular neuter declension, making its dative form państwu (not państwom, which means "to the countries"). The word rodzeństwo (siblings) translates to a plural concept in English, but is strictly a singular neuter noun in Polish, so it naturally takes the singular dative ending rodzeństwu.

2. Adjectives and Modifiers:
Adjectives, as well as possessive and demonstrative modifiers, take -ym or -im. It is crucial not to put the noun ending -om on adjectives!

• nowy (new) → nowym
• taki (such) → takim
• mój (my) → moim
• ten (this/these) → tym
• nasz (our) → naszym
• wszyscy/wszystkie (everyone/all) → wszystkim

3. Personal Pronouns:
Since indirect objects are very frequently pronouns, it is important to know the dative plural personal pronouns, which have their own unique forms:

• my (we) → nam (to us)
• wy (you pl.) → wam (to you pl.)
• oni/one (they) → im (to them)
• siebie (oneself/each other) → sobie (to oneself/to each other)

4. Numerals:
Numerals have their own highly irregular dative plural forms and do not follow the standard noun or adjective rules. For example: dwóm/dwom (two), trzem (three), czterem (four), and pięciu (five).

Important Note: Unlike English, which can use the preposition "to" (e.g., "give it to the boys"), Polish normally marks the recipient of dać with the dative. A phrase such as dla + genitive can name a beneficiary, but it is not an automatic substitute for the recipient case required by the verb. However, the dative case is strictly required after specific prepositions like dzięki (thanks to) and przeciwko (against). When the third-person pronoun im immediately follows a preposition, it takes an n- prefix and becomes nim (e.g., dzięki nim - thanks to them, przeciwko nim - against them).