This lockdown is leading me into the intimidating world of Russian grammar. Let’s look at one useful situation for the dative case (дательный падеж): saying thank you to a group of people.

How to thank a group of people:
Start with the noun as it usually appears in the dictionary… that is, the nominative singular.
If that word ends in a consonant, add –ам:
врач (doctor) → врачам (to the doctors)
волонтёр (volunteer) → волонтёрам (to the volunteers)
кассир (cashier) → кассирам (to the cashiers)
фармацевт (pharmacist) → фармацевтам (to the pharmacists)

If that word ends in a vowel, delete the vowel and add –ам…. or maybe it’s easier to think of it like this: add -м if the singular form of the noun ends in -а:
медсестра (nurse) → медсестрам (to the nurses)
женщина (woman) → женщинам (to the women)
почтальонка (postwoman) → почтальонкам (to the postwomen)
журналистка (female journalist) → журналисткам (to the female journalists)

If that word ends in ь, delete the ь and add –ям.
учитель (teacher) → учителям (to the teachers)
водитель (driver) → водителям (to the drivers)
строитель (builder) → строителям (to the builders)
That’s it! I’m still really overwhelmed by Russian grammar but when you break it down into teeny tiny situations like this, maybe it’s not so bad??
Leave a Reply