Breakdown of Я сам позвоню бабушке вечером.
я
I
бабушка
the grandmother
вечером
in the evening
позвонить
to call
Questions & Answers about Я сам позвоню бабушке вечером.
Why is бабушке not бабушку?
Because позвонить takes the dative case, not the accusative.
- позвонить кому? = to call someone
- So:
- бабушка = nominative
- бабушке = dative
This is different from English, where call someone has no visible case marking. In Russian, the person receiving the call is treated like an indirect object:
- Я позвоню бабушке. = I’ll call grandma.
- Он позвонил другу. = He called his friend.
So after звонить / позвонить, you normally use the dative.
Why is there no word for to before бабушке?
Because Russian often uses case endings where English uses prepositions.
In English, you think of it as call to grandma or simply call grandma, but in Russian the idea is built into the noun ending:
- бабушка → бабушке
So the dative ending already shows the role of grandma as the person the call is directed to. No separate to is needed.
What does сам mean here?