Dative Singular Endings

Level 2

-ovi for men and male animals, -u for masculine things and neuter nouns, -e / -i for feminine nouns: bratovi, domu, mestu, sestre, ulici.

How It Works

Masculine animate (people and animals): -ovi

  • brat → bratovi (brother)
  • otec → otcovi (father)
  • Peter → Petrovi
  • kolega → kolegovi (colleague)
  • pes → psovi (dog)

Masculine inanimate (things): -u

  • dom → domu (house)
  • stôl → stolu (table)
  • čaj → čaju (tea)

Neuter: -u

  • mesto → mestu (town)
  • srdce → srdcu (heart)
  • vysvedčenie → vysvedčeniu (school report)
  • dieťa → dieťaťu (child)

Feminine: -e or -i

  • hard stem + a: -e: žena → žene, mama → mame, sestra → sestre, kniha → knihe
  • soft stem + a: -i: ulica → ulici, stanica → stanici
  • ending in a consonant: -i: dlaň → dlani, kosť → kosti, noc → noci

No consonant change. Slovak keeps k, g and h before -e: ruka → ruke, kniha → knihe, Olga → Olge.

Watch out. A few nouns can take -u even though they name a person or being: Boh → Bohu (as in Vďaka Bohu, Thank God). Človek has both človeku and človekovi.

The dative is used for receivers (The Dative Case for Recipients), after Toward: k and ku and with verbs like pomáhať and ďakovať. The full models are in Masculine Declension Types and Feminine Declension Types.

Examples (6)

  1. Dám to bratovi.

    I'll give it to my brother.

    brat names a male person, so it takes -ovi.

  2. Blížime sa k domu.

    We're getting close to the house.

    dom is a masculine thing, so it takes -u.

  3. Mestu chýbajú peniaze.

    The town is short of money.

    Neuter mesto takes -u: mestu.

  4. Ideme k stanici.

    We're walking toward the station.

    stanica has a soft stem (c), so it takes -i.

  5. Kúpil som mame kvety a otcovi knihu.

    I bought mom flowers and dad a book.

    mama → mame (-e), otec → otcovi (-ovi, and the e drops out).

  6. Daj psovi vodu.

    Give the dog some water.

    Animals are animate: pes → psovi.

Common Mistakes

  • Using -u for a male person.

    Dám to bratu.
    Dám to bratovi.

    Nouns for men and male animals take -ovi in the dative. The ending -u is for masculine things.

  • Using -ovi for a thing.

    Blížime sa k domovi.
    Blížime sa k domu.

    Dom is not a person or an animal, so it takes -u.

  • Using the genitive form for a soft feminine noun.

    Ideme k stanice.
    Ideme k stanici.

    Stanice is the genitive singular or the plural. The dative of a soft feminine noun ends in -i: stanici.

How It Connects

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

Dative Singular EndingsLevel 2

Learn This First

Before Dative Singular Endings, learn The Dative Case for Recipients. This entry teaches the endings for the dative case.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.