Dative singular adjectives and possessives

When you give advice, offer a gift, or remind someone of something, that person is the indirect object. In Russian, indirect objects take the Dative case.

Common verbs that require a Dative recipient include:

  • советовать / посоветовать (to advise)
  • предлагать / предложить (to offer)
  • верить / поверить (to believe)
  • напоминать / напомнить (to remind)

If you want to add descriptive details to the recipient (like "my younger brother" or "our new client"), the accompanying possessive pronouns and adjectives must also be in the Dative case.

Masculine and Neuter Dative Modifiers

For masculine and neuter nouns, modifiers take the following endings:

Word TypeDative EndingExamples
Adjectives-ому or -емуновому, старшему, маленькому
Possessives-емумоему, твоему, нашему, вашему

Feminine Dative Modifiers

For feminine nouns, modifiers change to end in -ой or -ей:

Word TypeDative EndingExamples
Adjectives-ой or -ейновой, старшей, умной
Possessives-еймоей, твоей, нашей, вашей

"This" in the Dative Case

The demonstrative pronoun этот (this) also changes to match the Dative noun it points to:

  • Masculine / Neuter: этому
  • Feminine: этой