Romanian uses the same noun form for the genitive (possession or belonging) and the dative (the person or thing an action is directed to). Compare cartea profesorului (the teacher's book) with I-am trimis profesorului un mesaj (I sent the teacher a message).
How do you form the genitive and dative noun forms?
Start with the noun's gender, number, and article, then use the genitive-dative article form; feminine singular nouns often also change their noun ending.
| Pattern | Nominative-accusative | Genitive-dative | Meaning of the form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite masculine or neuter singular | un pom | unui pom | of/to a tree |
| Indefinite feminine singular | o casă | unei case | of/to a house |
| Indefinite plural | niște pomi / niște case | unor pomi / unor case | of/to some trees/houses |
| Definite masculine or neuter singular | pomul / scaunul | pomului / scaunului | of/to the tree/chair |
| Definite feminine singular | casa / floarea | casei / florii | of/to the house/flower |
| Definite plural | pomii / casele | pomilor / caselor | of/to the trees/houses |
The visible change is often in the article: un becomes unui, o becomes unei, and niște becomes unor. With a definite noun, the attached ending is usually -ului for masculine and neuter singular, -i for feminine singular, and -lor for plural.
What changes with feminine nouns?
- Masculine and neuter nouns usually keep the same unarticulated noun form across nominative-accusative and genitive-dative: pom, pomului and scaun, scaunului. The article carries the case information.
- A feminine singular noun often uses a form related to its plural before the genitive-dative article: casă, casei (house, of/to the house), floare, florii (flower, of/to the flower), and cafea, cafelei (coffee, of/to the coffee).
- For many feminine nouns whose nominative-accusative plural ends in -ii, the genitive-dative singular has -iei: stație, stații, stației (station, stations, of/to the station) and familie, familii, familiei (family, families, of/to the family).
- Learn the full singular and genitive-dative pair with each new feminine noun. Do not assume that one ending will predict every stem change.
How do genitive and dative differ in meaning?
- The genitive answers al, a, ai, ale cui? (whose? or of what?) and commonly follows the noun it describes: Cartea profesorului este pe masă. (The teacher's book is on the table.)
- The dative answers cui? (to whom? or to what?) and commonly follows verbs such as a da (to give), a trimite (to send), a spune (to tell), and a arăta (to show): I-am arătat studentei harta. (I showed the student the map.)
- The surrounding construction identifies the case. In profesorului in cartea profesorului, the noun expresses possession; in I-am trimis profesorului mesajul, it names the recipient. The spelling is identical.
When do you use an indefinite or definite form?
A common noun in the genitive or dative normally appears with a definite or indefinite article form. Use the indefinite forms for a non-specific referent: Am trimis un mesaj unui profesor. (I sent a message to a teacher.) Use the definite forms for an identified referent: Am citit mesajul profesorului. (I read the teacher's message.) When a genitive phrase needs al, a, ai, or ale, that separate genitive article agrees with the noun it accompanies; see the genitive article.
Mistakes to avoid
Do not add -ului to every noun. It belongs to the definite masculine and neuter singular pattern: pomul becomes pomului. A feminine noun uses a different form, as in casa to casei, and a definite plural uses -lor, as in casele to caselor. Also, do not search for separate noun endings for genitive and dative: Romanian normally uses one shared genitive-dative form and lets the construction show its function.
What about names and marked variants?
The paradigms above are neutral contemporary Standard Romanian. Personal names have their own patterns: lui Ion (of/to Ion) uses lui before the name, while Maria becomes Mariei (of/to Maria). DOOM3 also records some familiar, popular, or vulgar possessive compounds, but those marked forms are not default replacements for the neutral patterns taught here.
What does cartea profesorului mean?
- the teacher's book
- a teacher's books
- to the teacher's book
- the teachers' books
Profesorului is the definite masculine singular genitive-dative form, and in this noun phrase it expresses possession: the teacher's book.
Choose the genitive-dative form for o casă in ușa ___. (the house's door)
- casei
- casa
- caselor
- casă
The feminine singular genitive-dative form is casei. The noun changes from casă to case- and takes the definite article -i.
Complete: I-am trimis ___ un mesaj. (I sent the student a message.)
- studentul
- studentului
- studenților
- studentă
The student is the recipient, so the dative is required. The definite masculine singular form of student is studentului.
Which sentence uses the plural dative form correctly? (I offered the students a place.)
- Le-am oferit studenții un loc.
- Le-am oferit studentului un loc.
- Le-am oferit studentei un loc.
- Le-am oferit studenților un loc.
The recipients are plural, so the definite plural genitive-dative form is studenților. The other options are nominative-accusative plural or singular forms.
Which statement is correct?
- Genitive and dative always have different noun endings.
- Only feminine nouns can have a genitive or dative.
- Genitive and dative normally share a noun form, and the construction shows which case it is.
- The dative always uses the definite article -lor.
Romanian has syncretic genitive-dative noun forms: the form is shared, while possession, recipient meaning, verbs, and surrounding words identify the case.