Social Interactions and Boundaries
Many Polish verbs describing actions directed at someone require the Dative case for the recipient. You can use the Dative to establish social boundaries, such as interrupting, refusing, or forgiving someone.
| Please do not interrupt me when I am working. | Proszę mi nie przeszkadzać, kiedy pracuję. |
| When the boss needs help, I never refuse him. | Kiedy szef potrzebuje pomocy, nigdy mu nie odmawiam. |
| Will you forgive my mistake, sir? | Czy wybaczy mi pan mój błąd? |
Commands and Restrictions
When you tell someone to do something (kazać) or forbid them from doing it (zabraniać), the person receiving the command takes the Dative case. The action they must or must not do is simply expressed with an infinitive verb.
| The boss tells me to get up early. | Szef każe mi wcześnie wstać. |
| Mom forbids the child to eat a lot of sugar. | Mama zabrania dziecku jeść dużo cukru. |
Similarly, verbs expressing hostile intentions toward someone, such as grozić (to threaten), also take the Dative case.
| This man is threatening us, and his behavior bothers me a lot. | Ten człowiek nam grozi, a jego zachowanie bardzo mi przeszkadza. |
Expressing Fit, Envy, and Lack
The Dative case is also used to express how things relate to a person, such as whether clothes or a time slot suits them (pasować).
| This new suit fits you very well, sir. | Ten nowy garnitur bardzo panu pasuje. |
| Does this time suit you, ma'am? | Czy ta godzina pani pasuje? |
Finally, some verbs require two cases at the same time! Two very common examples are zazdrościć (to envy) and brakować (to lack / to be missing). For these verbs, the person experiencing the emotion or lack takes the Dative, while the object being envied or lacked takes the Genitive.
| I envy you this big success. | Zazdroszczę ci tego dużego sukcesu. |
| We lack money. | Brakuje nam pieniędzy. |