One Ending, Three Cases
There is a very convenient shortcut in Croatian grammar: in the plural, the dative, locative, and instrumental cases all share the exact same endings! If you know how to form the instrumental plural, you already know the dative and locative plural.
Masculine and Neuter Nouns (-ima)
For regular masculine and neuter nouns, the dative and locative plural ending is -ima.
When using the preposition o (about), which requires the locative case, a masculine noun like glumac (actor) becomes glumcima.
| We often think about the actors in the new film. | Često razmišljamo o glumcima u novom filmu. |
The dative case is often used without a preposition to indicate an indirect object—the recipient of an action. For the masculine noun učenik (pupil), the dative plural form is učenicima (notice the typical spelling change from k to c).
| The teacher will gift books to the pupils. | Učitelj će pokloniti knjige učenicima. |
Feminine Nouns (-ama)
For regular feminine nouns, the dative and locative plural ending is -ama.
The preposition prema (towards) always requires the dative case. When used with a feminine noun like životinja (animal), the plural form becomes životinjama.
| They are always good towards animals. | Oni su uvijek dobri prema životinjama. |
Putting It All Together
Because the endings are so consistent, combining plural nouns of different genders in a single sentence is straightforward. Neuter nouns like polje (field) take -ima, while feminine nouns like biljka (plant) take -ama.
| The workers on the fields help the animals and plants. | Radnici na poljima pomažu životinjama i biljkama. |
Certain adjectives, like zahvalan (grateful), also require the dative case to indicate who you are grateful to.
| We are grateful to the actors for this film. | Zahvalni smo glumcima za ovaj film. |
| The teachers will gift computers to their pupils. | Učitelji će pokloniti računala svojim učenicima. |
