Questions & Answers about Я отдам тебе книгу после работы.
Why is the verb отдам used here, and what form is it?
Отдам is the 1st person singular future form of отдать.
- отдать = a perfective verb meaning to give away / hand over
- я отдам = I will give / I’ll hand over
Because отдать is perfective, it does not form the future with буду. Instead, it has a simple future form:
- я отдам
- ты отдашь
- он/она отдаст, etc.
So Я отдам тебе книгу means I will give you the book.
Why is it тебе and not ты?
Because тебе is in the dative case, which is used for the recipient of something.
Compare:
- ты = you (subject form / nominative)
- тебе = to you (dative)
In this sentence, the book is being given to you, so Russian uses the dative:
- Я отдам тебе книгу = I will give you the book
Very often, English does not show to explicitly (I’ll give you the book), but Russian still uses the dative case.