dati / davati (to give) | Croatian Grammar

Dati / davati ("to give") is the verb that teaches you Croatian's three-place giving frame in one go: you give a thing (accusative) to a recipient (dative). It is also a clean illustration of an aspect pair, the perfective dati and the imperfective davati, and a goldmine of idiom — Daj! ("Come on!"), daj mi ("give me / let me"), dati se ("be possible"). Master the case frame and the pair, and you have unlocked a construction you will use in nearly every transaction, request, and offer.

Aspect

This is a genuine two-verb pair, so pick the right member:

dati — perfective: a single completed act of giving. Dao sam mu knjigu ("I gave him the book").
davati — imperfective: repeated, habitual, or ongoing giving. Davao sam mu džeparac svaki tjedan ("I used to give him pocket money every week").

Because dati is perfective, its present forms (dam, daš…) cannot describe a present-time ongoing action; they carry a future/modal flavour and live mostly in subordinate clauses (kad mi daš… "once you give me…", da ti dam… "let me give you…"). For a real present "I (regularly) give", you need the imperfective dajem (from davati). The pair is formed by suffixation (da-ti → da-va-ti), the pattern described on pair formation by suffix; the perfective/imperfective logic is on aspect overview.

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Use dajem (from davati) for a present-time "I give / I'm giving", and dam (from dati) for a completed/future single act, typically after da, ako, or kad. A bare present-tense dam ti to means "let me give you that / I'll give you that", not "I am giving".

Present tense — both members

The perfective dati has a special present (dam, daš, da, damo, date, daju — with the older variant dadu also in use for this verb). The imperfective davati takes the regular dajem set.

Person	dati (pf.)	davati (impf.)
ja	dam	dajem
ti	daš	daješ
on/ona/ono	da	daje
mi	damo	dajemo
vi	date	dajete
oni/one/ona	daju / dadu	daju

Daješ li djeci džeparac?

Do you give the kids pocket money? — imperfective 'davati', habitual present.

Čekaj da ti dam recept, brzo se zapiše.

Wait, let me give you the recipe, it's quick to write down. — perfective present 'dam' in a 'da'-clause.

Ova firma daje dobre uvjete.

This company gives good terms. — imperfective, a general truth.

The l-participle (dati)

Built on da-: masculine dao, feminine dala, etc. (The imperfective davati gives davao, davala.)

Gender / number	dati	davati
masculine singular	dao	davao
feminine singular	dala	davala
neuter singular	dalo	davalo
masculine plural	dali	davali
feminine plural	dale	davale
neuter plural	dala	davala

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + the l-participle. With the perfective dati this is the default "I gave"; with davati it means "I used to give / was giving".

Person	Masculine subject (dati)	Feminine subject (dati)
ja	dao sam	dala sam
ti	dao si	dala si
on / ona	dao je	dala je
mi	dali smo	dale smo
vi	dali ste	dale ste
oni / one	dali su	dale su

Dala sam mu svoj broj, ali se nije javio.

I gave him my number, but he didn't call. — feminine speaker, completed act.

Dali su nam popust jer smo stalni gosti.

They gave us a discount because we're regulars.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive dati drops its final -i before the clitic: dat ću. (davati → davat ću.)

Person	Infinitive first	Clitic first
ja	dat ću	… ću dati
ti	dat ćeš	… ćeš dati
on/ona/ono	dat će	… će dati
mi	dat ćemo	… ćemo dati
vi	dat ćete	… ćete dati
oni/one/ona	dat će	… će dati

Dat ću ti odgovor do kraja dana, obećavam.

I'll give you an answer by the end of the day, I promise.

Imperative

The high-frequency imperative is from dati: daj, dajmo, dajte (identical in shape to the davati present stem). The imperfective imperative davaj exists but is rarer.

Person	Form	Meaning
ti	daj	give! / come on!
mi	dajmo	let's give
vi	dajte	give! (pl./formal)

Daj mi taj ključ, otvorit ću ja.

Give me that key, I'll open it.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + the l-participle.

Person	Form (masc.)
ja	dao bih
ti	dao bi
on/ona/ono	dao/dala/dalo bi
mi	dali bismo
vi	dali biste
oni/one/ona	dali bi

Dao bih sve da mogu vratiti taj dan.

I'd give anything to get that day back.

Other forms

Passive participle: dan, dana, dano ("given") — the older variant dat, data, dato is also standard. You meet it in u danom trenutku ("at a given moment") and dani uvjeti ("given conditions"). For davati: davan.
Verbal adverbs: the imperfective davajući ("[while] giving") and the perfective past davši ("having given") both occur in writing.

U danom trenutku morat ćeš odlučiti.

At a given moment you'll have to decide. — passive participle 'dan'.

Davši sve od sebe, otišao je mirne savjesti.

Having given his all, he left with a clear conscience. — perfective verbal adverb.

Key uses and government

1. The core frame: dati + accusative (thing) + dative (recipient)

The thing given is the direct object (accusative); the recipient is the indirect object (dative). Both can be full nouns or clitic pronouns, and the clitics line up in a fixed order (dative before accusative): Dao sam mu ga ("I gave it to him"). The recipient case is detailed on the dative indirect object.

Dao sam knjigu prijatelju.

I gave the book to a friend. — accusative 'knjigu' + dative 'prijatelju'.

Možeš li mi dati onu olovku?

Can you give me that pencil? — dative clitic 'mi' + accusative 'olovku'.

2. Partitive: daj mi + genitive of "some"

For "give me some of" an uncountable thing, the partitive genitive appears: Daj mi kruha ("Give me some bread"), versus the accusative Daj mi kruh ("Give me the bread / the loaf"). See partitive and quantity.

Daj mi malo vode, molim te.

Give me a little water, please. — partitive genitive 'vode'.

3. Daj as a discourse particle — "come on"

Detached from literal giving, Daj! / Ma daj! is one of the most common Croatian interjections: pleading, disbelief, or "come on, really?".

Ma daj, ne mogu vjerovati da si to rekao!

Oh come on, I can't believe you said that!

4. dati se — "be possible / let oneself"

The reflexive dati se expresses feasibility (impersonal da se + infinitive, "it can be done") or, with a dative experiencer, reluctance/inclination (ne da mi se "I can't be bothered").

To se da riješiti, samo treba vremena.

That can be sorted out, it just takes time. — impersonal 'dati se'.

Ne da mi se danas nikamo izlaziti.

I can't be bothered to go out anywhere today. — dative experiencer 'mi'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Dao sam knjigu prijatelja.

Case error — the recipient takes the dative, not the genitive: 'prijatelju'.

✅ Dao sam knjigu prijatelju.

I gave the book to a friend.

❌ Dao sam ga mu.

Clitic order — the dative clitic comes before the accusative: 'dao sam mu ga'.

✅ Dao sam mu ga.

I gave it to him.

❌ Dam ti knjigu svaki tjedan.

Aspect — habitual present needs the imperfective 'dajem' (davati); perfective 'dam' isn't a true present.

✅ Dajem ti knjigu svaki tjedan.

I give you a book every week.

❌ Daj mi za vodu.

Unidiomatic preposition — give it the thing directly in the accusative/genitive: 'daj mi vode'.

✅ Daj mi vode.

Give me some water.

❌ Dati ću ti odgovor sutra.

Incorrect — before the future clitic the infinitive drops its -i: 'dat ću'.

✅ Dat ću ti odgovor sutra.

I'll give you an answer tomorrow.

Key Takeaways

dati / davati is a true aspect pair: perfective dati (single completed act) vs imperfective davati (habit/ongoing). For a present-time "I give", use dajem, not dam.
The perfective present dam, daš, da, damo, date, daju (older variant dadu) carries a future/modal sense, mostly after da/ako/kad.
The giving frame is accusative (thing) + dative (recipient); clitics go dative before accusative (dao sam mu ga).
Partitive genitive for "some" (daj mi vode); passive participle dan (also dat).
Live with the idioms: Daj! ("come on"), daj mi ("give me / let me"), dati se ("be possible / be bothered").

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