[Дат] The Dative Case - Intro and Singular Formation

First off - the dative - да́тельный паде́ж is useful in a number of different situations:

1. It describes the addressee of an action/verb... For instance, writing (to) your brother(a letter, for instance):

• Писа́ть бра́ту.

• This is the case with a number of different verbs, all where the 'recipient' is... specific... another example: 'Помога́ть Ива́ну' - to help Иван.

2. With the preposition "к" - which means 'to' a person or 'towards' a place... with a motion that has a very specific endpoint. It's the endpoint that makes the difference - maybe it helps to think of the addressee - the destination is important, not just the direction(away or to).

• Е́хать к подру́ге - going to your friend's place (female friend)

3. To say how old someone is. Well, you've actually saying how many years they 'have', as I understand it.

• Анто́ну 12 лет. Anton is 12. Note that it's лет even though it ends in a two. When you say it, however, the last word before the years isn't два, it's двена́дцать. So, 12 ле́т, 22 го́да. It makes more sense when you're speaking. If the word "два, три, or четыре" has just come out of your mouth, you with follow года, otherwise with лет (and один -> год).

4. It describes the subject of a sentence like: "Ivan is bored" "Masha is cold", where and adverb with an -o ending (ску́чно, хо́лодно) is describing someone's physical/mental sensation... they're the addressee of the boredom/coldness if you want to force it into that paradigm :D. It's very difficult to explain this in a language where the idea doesn't exist in the same form.

• Ива́ну ску́чно

• Маше хо́лодно

5. With the preposition 'По'... but we'll cover that with the plural!

6. Masculine

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Ending	/	-й	-ь
Add	-у	-ю	-ю

2. Feminine

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Ending	-а	-я	-ия	-ь
Add	-е	-и	-ии	-и

3. Neutral

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Ending	-о	-е
Add	-у	-ю

Examples:

1. Masculine

Nominative	Dative
Студе́нт	Студе́нту
Вра́ч	Вра́чу
Учи́тель	Учи́телю
Музе́й	Музе́ю

2. Feminine

Nominative	Dative
Сестра́	Сестре́
Семья́	Семье́
Мари́я	Мари́и
Ро́ль	Ро́ли

3. Neutral

Nominative	Dative
Окно́	Окну́
Мо́ре	Мо́рю

I realize this can be confusing, especially if you're coming from English. Just ask if anything wasn't entirely clear