Verbs governing the dative

Compare two sentences: Vidim brata (I see my brother) and Pomažem bratu (I help my brother). In English both verbs simply take an object. In Serbian the first takes the accusative, as you would expect, but the second takes the dative — the case you know from Dajem bratu knjigu (I give my brother a book).

The difference is that here there is no book. The person in the dative is the only object the verb has. Some verbs simply work that way: the person you help, answer, trust or stand in the way of is not 'acted upon' like a thing you see or buy, but is the one the action is directed at — and Serbian marks that with the dative. You met the same idea with the verbs that take the genitive and the instrumental: the verb decides the case, and you learn the case together with the verb.

The core verbs

Four groups, each short and very common. Learn these first:

A few more verbs work the same way. You will meet them in this lesson's sentences and texts:

The dative endings are the ones you already know: -u for masculine and neuter nouns (bratu, učeniku), -i for feminine nouns in -a (sestri, komšinici), and -ima / -ama in the plural (ljudima, komšijama). An adjective or possessive agrees in the dative too: Verujem svojoj sestri. Ne verujem tom čoveku.

With a pronoun: the dative clitics

When the object is a pronoun, use the short dative forms you learnt for the indirect object — the same words, now as the verb's only object. They stand in second position like every clitic.

The classic slip is to reach for the accusative clitic because English says 'help him', 'trust her'. With these verbs it is always mu, never ga; always joj, never je: Pomažem mu, Verujem joj. If you are unsure, ask yourself 'to whom?' — Serbian hears help as giving help to someone.

Negation changes nothing

A negated verb keeps the dative. Put ne (or nije, nisam in the past) in front as usual, and the object stays where it was and in the same case: Ne verujem tom čoveku. Nije mi pomogao. Ona nikome ne veruje. (nikome is the dative of niko.)

Two pairs that trip people up

• pitati (ask) takes the accusative, but odgovoriti (answer) takes the dative: Pitam učiteljicu — Učiteljica odgovara učeniku.
• slušati (listen to, obey) takes the accusative, but verovati (trust) takes the dative: Slušam majku — Verujem majci.

Verovati with the dative means believing or trusting a person: Verujem ti — I believe you. Believing in something is verovati u + accusative, a different construction you do not need here.