It’s been quite a while since I discovered that for many of my students celownik (dativ) is one of the most confusing Polish cases.
That’s why I decided to explain a little bit more about when we need to use it. First thing I can say is that celownik is usually used when we talk about an action which is directed to a human. Look at the examples:
Czy mogę ci pomóc? Can I help you?
Daj mi to proszę. Give it to me please.
Of course, we can replace a pronoun relating to a person with an object, for example:
Czym mogę pomóc naszemu szpitalowi? How can I help our hospital?
A hospital is obviously not a person, but then we don’t help an institution itself, but people who are being cured there. Now what if we replace the word “hospital” with “forest”? I doubt we would really say that in any context. In Polish mentality celownik is very strongly connected with people and leaving creatures. But still this logic is quite intuitive, which means that for my students who hear about celownik for the first time it’s not really helpful.
Then there is one more question. When I say that celownik is usually used when we talk about an action which is directed to a human, my students almost always answer me, that the verb “kochać” (to love) certainly is directed to people as well, but we don’t use celownik after that. This remark is true enough, but the difference is that celownik is used almost only in the context of people, whereas “kochać” can be used for both people and objects:
Kocham moje lekcje polskiego! I love my Polish classes!
Finally I gave up and decided that the best option will be to note down all the verbs which require celownik. And examples, of course! There might be several more verbs, which I haven’t thought of, but these are definittely the most used ones.
- DAWAĆ
To jest książka, którą nam wczoraj dałeś.
This is the book you gave us yesterday.
- KUPOWAĆ
Mamo, kupisz mi ciastko?
Mum, will you buy me a biscuit?
- DAROWAĆ
Co mu podarowałeś na święta?
What did you give him for holidays?
- PRZEKAZYWAĆ
Możesz jej proszę przekazać ten list?
Can you pass this letter to her?
- POKAZYWAĆ
Tata pokazał nam wczoraj zdjęcia.
Father showed us pictures yesterday.
- OFEROWAĆ
Dyrektor zaoferował mi awans.
My boss offered me a promotion.
- PROPONOWAĆ
Czy mogę ci zaproponować wspólny spacer?
Can I propose you a walk?
- OFIAROWAĆ (a little old-fashioned word, usually related to historical figures and used in literature)
Król ofiarował jej brylantowy pierścionek.
King offered her a diamond ring.
- WIERZYĆ
Dlaczego ty im nie wierzysz?
Why don’t you believe them?
- UFAĆ
Zawsze wam bardzo ufałam.
I have always strongly trusted you.
- ZAZDROŚCIĆ
Ona mi zazdrości dobrej pracy.
She envies me for a good job.
- BYĆ WDZIĘCZNYM
Jestem ci bardzo wdzięczna za pomoc!
I’m very grateful to you for your help!
- ZAWDZIĘCZAĆ
Nie masz pojęcia, jak wiele im zawdzięczam!
You have no idea how much I owe to them!
- OBIECYWAĆ
Obiecał nam, że będzie punktualnie o ósmej.
He promised us he would be punctual at 8.
- POMAGAĆ
Pomożesz mi z obiadem?
Will you help me with lunch?
- PRZYGLĄDAĆ SIĘ
Lekarz przygląda się im uważnie.
The doctor examined them carefully.
- DEDYKOWAĆ
Chcę ci zadedykować tę książkę.
I wan to dedicate this book to you.
- POŚWIĘCIĆ
Poświęciłam ci tyle czasu!
I devoted so much time to you!
- SKARŻYĆ SIĘ
Ona mu się cały czas skarży na życie.
She complains to him about life all the time.
- SPRZEDAWAĆ
Sprzedali ci nieświeże pomidory.
They sold you green tomatoes!
- ZWIERZAĆ SIĘ
Kasia zwierza mi się ze swoich sekretów.
Kasia confides her secrets to me.
- MÓWIĆ
Mówię ci, że nie masz racji!
I’m telling you, you aren’t right!
- OPOWIADAĆ
Czy opowiadałeś im o tym?
Have you told them about it?
- POWIEDZIEĆ
Możesz nam powiedzieć, co się stało?
Can you tell us, what happened?
