4 October 2013 by Pigmalijonas
It's time that we overviewed the dative case, which you have witnessed in these forms of personal pronouns:
man, tau, jam, jai, mums, jums, jiems, joms
The dative case indicates that something is done to something or for something. When a noun is in this case, it is the indirect object. Let's examine the noun endings of the dative case:
langas (a window) : langui (for a window)
sąsiuvinis (an exercise-book) : sąsiuviniui (for an exercise-book)
televizorius (a TV) : televizoriui (for a TV)
lempa (a lamp) : lempai (for a lamp)
kėdė (a chair) : kėdei (for a chair)
kambarys (a room) : kambariui (for a room)
Notice that the singular endings are u/a/e + i.
Now let's make these words plural:
langai (windows) : langams (for windows)
sąsiuviniai (exercise-books) : sąsiuviniams (for exercise-books)
televizoriai (TVs) : televizoriams (for TVs)
lempos (lamps) : lempoms (for lamps)
kėdės (chairs) : kėdėms (for chairs)
kambariai (rooms) : kambariams (for rooms)
It is very common for verbs to require that their object is in the dative case. Of all the verbs that we have learned so far, many can take the dative case:
duoti (to give), kalbėti (to speak), gyventi (to live), pirkti (to buy), gauti (to get), imti (to take), reikėti (to need), patikti (to appeal)
Aš kalbu lempoms. I speak for the lamps.
Aš duodu tėvui pieštuką. I give to my father a pencil.
Tu gyveni tik mamai. You live only for your mother.
Jis perka mamai kompiuterį. He buys to his mother a computer.
Ji gauna mamai televizorių. She is getting a TV for her mother.
Mes imame tušinukus tėvams. We take pens for parents.
Kompiuteriui reikia stalo. The computer needs a table.
Ar televizoriams nereikia kambario? Don't the TVs need a room?
Tu patinki mano broliui. You appeal to my brother.
There are verbs that take only the dative case, and not the accusative or any other case. One of such verbs is patikti. You will be given some more of such verbs in the next lesson.
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