Breakdown of Każdemu dziecku daję prezent.
dziecko
child
prezent
gift
dawać
to give (imperfective)
każdy
every, each; everyone
Questions & Answers about Każdemu dziecku daję prezent.
Why are każdemu and dziecku in the dative case here?
The verb dawać (to give) requires an indirect object in the dative case to indicate the recipient of the action. Therefore, "to every child" translates to the dative phrase każdemu dziecku.
The noun dziecko is neuter, but każdemu looks like a masculine ending. Is that correct?
Yes! In Polish, masculine and neuter adjectives and pronouns share the exact same ending in the dative case: -emu. Because of this, both każdemu chłopcu (masculine) and każdemu dziecku (neuter) take the same pronoun form.
Why use the imperfective verb daję instead of the perfective dam?
Daję is the present tense of the imperfective verb dawać, which implies a repeated, ongoing, or habitual action (for example, giving a present to every child at the end of every school year). If this were a specific, one-time completed action in the future ("I will give"), you would use the perfective form dam.
If prezent is the direct object being given, why doesn't its ending change?
Prezent is indeed the direct object and is correctly in the accusative case. However, because it is a masculine inanimate noun (a non-living thing), its accusative form is identical to its basic dictionary form (the nominative case). If it had been a masculine animate noun, it would have taken an -a ending.