The Dative

The Dative Singular

65.The dative answers kam? (to whom? for whom?) and names the person on whose behalf or towards whom the action is done. Its endings are given below; note that the masculine -ui and the feminine -ai are the marks of the case, and that the feminine dative -ai is not the masculine nominative plural -ai of ¶53.

Rašau broliui.

I am writing to my brother.

Duodu knygą mamai.

I am giving the book to my mother.

The Indirect Object

66.A verb of giving, sending, saying or showing may have two objects: the thing, in the accusative, and the person, in the dative. English marks the person with to or by word order; Lithuanian marks it with the ending, and the order of the two is therefore free.

Aš duodu knygą broliui.

I give the book to my brother.

Aš duodu broliui knygą.

I give my brother the book. — the same sentence; the endings settle which is which

Mokytoja rašo laišką tėvui.

The teacher writes a letter to the father.

The Dative of the Pronouns

67.The personal pronouns have their own dative forms, and they are short and very common — they must be known cold, because the constructions of ¶68 and ¶69 are built on them.

Duok man knygą.

Give me the book.

Mes jai rašome.

We are writing to her.

Liking: Patikti with the Dative

68.Lithuanian does not say "I like the book" but the book pleases to me. The verb is patikti, the person who likes stands in the dative, and the thing liked is the subject, in the nominative. It follows that the verb agrees with the thing, not with the person — and that a plural thing gives a plural verb though the person is one.

Man patinka Vilnius.

I like Vilnius.

Ar tau patinka kava?

Do you like coffee?

Man nepatinka miestas.

I do not like the city.

Needing: Reikia with the Dative

69.Reikia — it is necessary — is impersonal: it has no subject at all and never changes its form. The person who needs stands in the dative, and what is needed follows either in the genitive or as an infinitive. English turns the person into a subject and Lithuanian does not.

Man reikia pinigų.

I need money. — literally: to-me is-necessary of-money

Man reikia dirbti.

I need to work. — infinitive instead of a noun

Jai reikia kavos.

She needs coffee.

Mums nereikia nieko.

We need nothing.

• [1] reikia never takes an ending for person or number: man reikia, jiems reikia, alike.

Other Verbs Taking the Dative

70.A group of everyday verbs governs the dative where English would use a direct object or a preposition. Tikti, to suit; skambinti, to telephone; padėti, to help. With these the dative is not an indirect object but the only object there is, and using an accusative is simply wrong.

Aš padedu broliui.

I am helping my brother. — not *padedu brolį*

Ar tau tinka šis laikas?

Does this time suit you?