Breakdown of Он подарил ей кольцо.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
подарить
to give (a gift)
кольцо
ring
Questions & Answers about Он подарил ей кольцо.
Why is 'her' translated as ей and not её?
The verb подарил (gave as a gift) requires the Dative case for the recipient (the person you give something to). Ей is the Dative form of она (she). If you used the Accusative form её, it would sound like he was giving her away as a gift!
What is the difference between подарил and дал?
Isn't кольцо the direct object? Why didn't its ending change?
You are right that it is the direct object, so it is in the Accusative case. However, кольцо is a neuter noun (ending in -о). Neuter nouns do not change their endings in the Accusative case; they look exactly the same as they do in the dictionary (Nominative) case.
Why use the perfective verb подарил instead of the imperfective дарил?
Giving this ring was a single, completed event in the past with a clear result (she now has the ring). The perfective aspect (подарил) is used for this kind of one-time, finished action, whereas дарил might suggest he used to give her rings regularly.