What Is the Dative Case?

If you speak or have studied Russian or German you’ve seen the dative case in action. Did you know that it also exists in English?

The dative case is related to the indirect object in English, but your teacher might not call it that.

In this article, we’ll discuss how grammatical cases work in English, even though they're not as noticeable as in other languages. We’ll go in-depth about the English dative case and its role in defining the indirect object. We’ll also explain the difference between the indirect object and prepositional phrases.

The dative case and the indirect object

Grammatical cases are more noticeable in other languages and rarely stand out in English.

So why learn about grammatical cases like the dative case?

As you go beyond learning the basics of English grammar, deepening your knowledge of complex grammatical concepts like cases allows you to easily construct meaningful sentences.

How can you tell which noun in a sentence is doing the action? Which one is receiving an action? Which noun indicates the correct verb form to use?

That’s where cases come in.

Let’s look at the main grammatical cases in English:

The nominative case helps us use nouns as the subject of a sentence. The sentence subject indicates what form of the verb to use:

John sleeps.

They are sleeping.

Margaret hadn’t slept since yesterday.

The accusative case defines a noun as the direct object of the sentence, that is, the noun that is directly affected by the verb:

The Smiths bought a beautiful painting on their trip to Italy.

In the sentence above, the noun ‘a beautiful painting’ answers the question, “What did the Smiths buy?”

Whenever we have a direct object, there’s also a chance we might have an indirect object. We use the dative case to designate the indirect object in a sentence.

In addition, we use something called the genitive case when describing a ‘possessive’ relationship between two nouns.

What’s the indirect object?

The indirect object answers the questions for whom or to whom. Let’s look at one of the examples above to get a better idea of what this means.

The Smiths bought a beautiful painting on their trip to Italy.

In this example, we know who bought something and what was bought. But do we know for whom the painting was bought? No, we don’t.

If we want to bring attention to the recipient of the direct object, we use an indirect object:

The Smiths bought a beautiful painting for their daughter.

                             or 

The Smiths bought themselves a beautiful painting.

Both the noun daughter and the reflexive pronoun themselves tell us for whom the painting was bought.

To learn more about reflexive pronouns like ‘themselves,’ see our article on how to use English pronouns in everyday conversation.

Dative case structure

Having an indirect object gives us more information about a situation. In particular, it tells us who is the recipient of the action that involves the direct object.

When we introduce the indirect object into a sentence, we may do so in two ways:

1. The most common way is to place the indirect object between the verb and the direct object.
   

Amazon mailed us a replacement yesterday. It should arrive next week.

In the above sentence, the indirect object us is placed between the verb mailed and the direct object ‘a replacement.’

2. The indirect object can also be written after the direct object, accompanied by the prepositions to or for. In the following sentences, the direct object is in bold, while the indirect object is underlined.

Happy birthday! I prepared your favorite chocolate cake for you. I hope you like it!

I haven’t told the truth to Emma yet. I think she’ll be upset.

Remember, an indirect object can be a noun or a pronoun, just like a direct object.

Dative case pronouns

The dative case, like the accusative case, falls under the umbrella of the object case. This is why we can replace both direct objects and indirect objects with object pronouns. In the sample conversation below, direct objects (and the object pronouns that replace them) are marked in bold. Indirect objects and their object pronouns are underlined.

A: Can I borrow your black jacket? I want to wear it to the concert tonight.
B: Sorry. I lent it to Cassie and she hasn’t returned it to me.
A: No problem. I’ll just send her a text asking if I can borrow *it*.
B: Sounds great. Don’t forget to give it back to me afterward!

The object pronoun it is used in place of the direct object black jacket, and the object pronoun her replaces the indirect object Cassie. The object pronoun me also acts as an indirect object and refers to speaker B.

Here's a list of all object pronouns you can use to replace both direct and indirect objects:

• me
• you
• him
• her * it
• us
• them

Be careful not to confuse object pronouns with subject pronouns. Take a look at our detailed overview of personal pronouns.

Uses of the dative case in English

You might have been introduced to pronouns or the direct and indirect objects as part of a lesson on English sentence structure, but now that you understand the dative case and the use of object pronouns better, you’ll be able to express your thoughts more clearly without repeating the same word too much.

There are two additional benefits of mastering the dative case:

1) Understanding the dative case allows you to know the difference between who, whom and whoever, whomever.

Both English learners and native speakers struggle with the difference between these pronouns. Understanding the object cases (dative and accusative) is your key to using these correctly.

Who and whoever are used as subject pronouns:

Who spilled coffee all over the rug? Whoever it was owes me a very expensive rug!

Whom and whomever will act as object pronouns, either in place of a direct object or indirect object:

A: Whom would you like me to deliver this message to?
B: Whomever you give this message to, make sure it’s someone who can help me!

In less formal settings, it’s okay to use who and whoever as both subject and object pronouns, even if your grammar book says otherwise.

Review the differences between formal and informal language in English to know when to use whom!

2) Understanding the dative case reveals similarities between English and other languages.

Knowledge of case grammar is useful if you’re learning other languages that depend on case grammar more heavily.

Also, if your native language uses grammatical cases, learning about English grammatical cases might help you understand English more easily.

Both the Russian language and the German language use grammatical cases with nouns, adjectives and prepositions. In fact, the dative case in Russian is used similarly to the dative case in English.

Modern Standard Arabic also relies on a system of grammatical cases, including the use of short vowels at the ends of nouns to designate the case.

Unlike Russian, German and Arabic, English does not have case endings or markings to indicate the use of a particular case. However, knowing that the role of a word is defined through a particular case can help fill the gaps in your understanding of how English sentences are constructed.

Thanks to the dative case, you can identify the indirect object through sentence structure (the indirect object will be after the direct object or between the verb and the direct object), by recognizing object pronouns, or by asking to whom or for whom the action of the sentence is done.

The dative case and prepositional phrases

Prepositional phrases, like the indirect object, provide more context to what we say or write. However, there can be some confusion when deciding whether a noun following a preposition is an indirect object or just part of a prepositional phrase.

A prepositional phrase is composed of a preposition and a noun. They provide extra information, such as when, where or why something happens. In the sentences below, each prepositional phrase is underlined:

I woke up late and now I won’t arrive on time for work!

The economy is not doing well at the moment.

Pete forgot to buy his plane ticket to Tokyo and now it’s expensive.

We decided to change our plans for the sake of the children.

All four examples show prepositional phrases. None have an indirect object.

Even though we use the prepositions to and for in the last two examples, these are technically not indirect objects, so we’re not using the dative case. The prepositional phrase in the third sentence refers to the direction or destination of the flight ticket. In the fourth sentence, the prepositional phrase for the sake of the children is a fixed expression that answers the question why or for what reason.

Prepositions can get tricky. That’s why we’ve created a guide on everything you need to know about English prepositions. Check it out to learn more!

If you’re ever confused about whether a preposition with a noun is an indirect object or not, you can check it in two ways:

1) Ask for whom or to whom the action is done.

Pete forgot to buy his plane ticket to Tokyo and now it’s expensive.
(Tokyo is not an indirect object. It is the destination. Therefore, it doesn’t answer the question for whom, so to Tokyo is a prepositional phrase.)

Pete forgot to buy a plane ticket for Donna. He only purchased a ticket for himself.
(For whom was the plane ticket bought? For himself. Not for Donna. Therefore, for Donna and for himself are indirect objects.)

2) Switch the position of the indirect object and remove the preposition.

Sometimes switching the position of the noun can make clear the noun’s role in the sentence:

Don’t waste your time making a cake for your birthday. Just buy one.

I cannot say: Don’t waste your time making your birthday a cake. Just buy one.

Putting the noun your birthday between the verb and the direct object doesn’t express the same meaning since it’s part of a prepositional phrase, not an indirect object.

Here’s another example:

We forgot to give food to the cat before we left home!

I can say: We forgot to give the cat food before we left home!

Placing the noun the cat between the verb and the direct object without the preposition to expresses the intended meaning. Therefore, the cat is an indirect object, not a prepositional phrase.

Switching the position of the indirect object does not always work. It depends on the verb being used. That’s why it’s always important to ask for whom or to whom the action is being done.

Dative case examples

The dative case will only be used in sentences with transitive verbs since these are the kind of verbs that take a direct object. We cannot have an indirect object without a direct object.

However, not all verbs that have a direct object will have an indirect object.

Take a look at this table of 10 common transitive verbs that can have an indirect object:

Can you think of any other examples? Give it a try!

A summary of the dative case in English

The dative case, like other grammatical cases in English, gives us valuable information about the role of a noun in a sentence. We use it to define the indirect object. Remember that the indirect object tells us to whom or for whom an action is completed.

We use the dative case only when we have a transitive verb since a direct object is necessary to have an indirect object in a sentence. If you’re struggling to identify the indirect object, remember to check the noun’s position in the sentence or check the use of object pronouns.

The indirect object is typically between the verb and the direct object or follows the direct object with the preposition to or for. Don’t confuse the indirect object with a prepositional phrase, though. When all else fails, simply ask for whom or to whom the action is done.

And if all this is still a bit confusing, some practice with real-life examples will help you learn how to use indirect objects in real communication. With a little practice each day, you’ll soon be communicating more clearly and effectively with everyone you meet.