Learn Russian: Это игрок, которому тренер очень доверяет. - This is the player the coach trusts very much.

Это игрок, которому тренер очень доверяет.

This is the player the coach trusts very much.

Breakdown of Это игрок, которому тренер очень доверяет.

which / who / that (relative pronoun)

игрок

player

Questions & Answers about Это игрок, которому тренер очень доверяет.

Why is the word for 'who' (которому) in the Dative case here?

The case of который is determined by its job in the second part of the sentence. The verb доверять (to trust) requires its object to be in the Dative case. So, the coach is trusting 'to' him (которому).

How do we know to use the masculine singular form of которому?

While its case (Dative) comes from the verb доверяет, its gender and number come from the noun it refers back to in the first half of the sentence. Since it refers to игрок (a masculine singular noun), we must use the masculine singular Dative form.

Can I leave out которому like we leave out 'who' or 'that' in the English translation?

No. In English, we often say 'the player the coach trusts' instead of 'the player who the coach trusts'. In Russian, you can never drop the connecting word который, and you must always put a comma right before it.

Why is очень (very) placed before the verb?

In Russian, adverbs of degree like очень generally go right before the verb they modify. So instead of putting it at the end like English 'trusts very much', Russian naturally says очень доверяет (literally 'very trusts').