The Polish Dative Case (Celownik): mi, ci, mu
In Russian the dative is a headliner; in Polish it's a character actor — small parts, every scene. It mostly travels as tiny unstressed words: mi, ci, mu. Learn seven little words and the case is basically yours.
The Little Words
podoba mi się
The Polish way to like the look of something flips the sentence: the thing pleases, you receive. Podoba mi się Kraków — Kraków appeals to-me. The liked thing is the subject — and the verb agrees with it: Podobał mi się ten film. Podobała mi się ta książka.
Podoba mi się twoje mieszkanie.
I like your flat.
Note: mieszkanie is the subject; you're just the dative bystander mi.
smakuje mi
Food gets its own liking verb: smakować. Smakuje mi ta zupa — I like this soup. The host's eternal question: Smakuje ci? The winning answer: Bardzo mi smakuje!
Feelings Land on the Dative
Zimno mi — I'm cold. Gorąco mi — I'm hot. And the phrase you've said since lesson four: Miło mi — pleasant to-me. It was the dative all along.
Giving to Nouns
Nouns take -owi (masculine) or -e/-i (feminine): Daję mamie prezent — I'm giving mum a present. Kupuję bratu kawę. Radzę Tomowi odpocząć — I advise Tom to rest.
Common Mistakes
- mi vs mnie for pain. Feelings: zimno mi (dative). Pain: boli mnie (accusative — Chapter 4 explains).
- Liking as the subject. In podoba mi się, don't say ja: the film does the pleasing.
- jej vs ją. jej — to her (dative); ją — her (accusative). Daję jej kawę, widzę ją.
What You Can Do Now
You can say what you like the look and taste of, how you feel, and hand things to the right people — seven small words doing very large work.