Third Sklon – Dative

The Slovene grammar is divided into 6 grammatical cases known as skloni. Understanding when to use which will greatly help you improve your Slovene.

Last but not least – the third sklon. Although, before attacking it, I suggest that you be familiar with the First Sklon – Nominative, Fourth Sklon – Accusative, Second Sklon – Genitive, Fifth Sklon – Locative and Sixth Sklon – Instrumental.

The third sklon, also known as dajalnik or dativ in Slovene, is the “Dative” case.

Here’s the table for the Sklon 3, Dative (I give…)

SKLON 3	(m) PRIDEN_ PES_	(ž) SIVA MAČKA	(s) VELIKO LETALO
(E) Dam	novemu psu	sivi mački	velikemu letalu
(D) Dam	novima psoma	sivima mačkama	velikima letaloma
(M) Dam	novim psom	sivim mačkam	velikim letalom

Reminder:  (E) ednina/singular, (D) dvojina/dual, (M) množina/plural and (m) moški/masculine, (ž) ženski/feminine, (s) srednji/neutral.

As you can see, in Dative, many endings are the same or similar. Refer to the colors:

• the masculine form and neutral form are exactly the same,
• the dual masculine, feminine and neutral form all ends with an a,
• the plural masculine, feminine and neutral form all ends with m and
• the dual and plural feminine form differs from the masculine/neutral forms by an a.

❤ And here’s an simplified version of the endings, easier to remember :

SKLON 3	(m)	(ž)	(s)
(E)	–EMU –U	-I -I	–EMU –U
(D)	–IMA –OMA*	–IMA –AMA	–IMA –OMA*
(M)	–IM –OM*	–IM –AM	–IM –OM*

Reminder: * is the famous bracket (c, č, š, ž j) where the o changes into e.

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When to use the third sklon

1. the noun is indirectly affected by the verb
   For example, I give (what?)⁴ a book (to who?)³ to a friend  →Dam (kaj?) knjigo⁴ (komu?) prijatelju³.
   
2. following specific preposition
   • k/h (to) – when there is movement or direction, which is similar to the fourth sklon, but the destination is a person. | i.e. I go to the doctor → Grem k zdravniku³.
     

     The preposition h is used if the following word starts with K or G. — The rest uses k.

   • proti (toward/against) | i.e. I go toward the sea → Grem proti morju³ / I am against smoking → Sem proti kajenju³.
   • kljub (despite) | Despite the rain, I go to school → Kljub dežju³ grem v šolo⁴.
3.  following specific verb
   • pomagati (to help), telefonirati (to phone), smejati se (to laugh), obljubiti (to promise), čestitati (to congratulate), zaupati (to trust)…
     

     Some verbs can be used with the fourth or/and the third sklon, it always depends on the context (direct or indirect).

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If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! 🙂 The third sklon is not any less important than the others skloni, but it is the last one on my list.

Remembering all the endings, understanding all the skloni and being able to easily apply them correct will take some time, but do keep up the good work and one day, you will be able to proudly say “Slovnico imam v malem prstu”! (If you’re not sure what it means, check out Slovenian Idioms.)

Update – here is my Cheat sheet “Table of Skloni “. More can be found under Learning Materials.

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Discover more Slovene “lessons” that might interest you: Slovene Numbers & Numerals, Slovene Nouns & Pronouns, Slovene Verbs, Slovene Adjectives, Slovene Syntax, Slovenian Idioms, Slovene Adverbs.

Let’s learn,
Anna.