Romanian has a six-item core group of prepositions and preposition-like selectors whose complement is dative-valued: Am reușit datorită sprijinului tău. (I succeeded thanks to your support.) The noun form often matches the genitive because Romanian normally uses the same visible form for genitive and dative nouns. For the larger case map, see the Romanian case system.
Which Romanian items govern the dative?
For neutral Standard Romanian, learn datorită, grație, mulțumită, conform, potrivit, and contrar as the core set. Datorită, grație, and mulțumită are the explicit “thanks to” prepositions. Conform, potrivit, and contrar express conformity or contrast.
| Item | Meaning and usual effect | Natural example |
|---|---|---|
| datorită | thanks to, owing to; the neutral default for a cause presented as helpful or credited | Datorită echipei, am terminat la timp. (Thanks to the team, I finished on time.) |
| mulțumită | thanks to; explicitly appreciative and normally favorable in tone | Mulțumită vecinilor, am găsit cheia. (Thanks to the neighbors, I found the key.) |
| grație | thanks to; polished and often formal or literary | Grație unei burse, a studiat la Viena. (Thanks to a scholarship, she studied in Vienna.) |
| conform | according to, in conformity with; frequent in official or administrative prose | Conform regulamentului, cererea trebuie semnată. (According to the regulations, the application must be signed.) |
| potrivit | according to; common in reports and attributed statements, and also an ordinary adjective meaning suitable | Potrivit medicului, trebuie să te odihnești. (According to the doctor, you should rest.) |
| contrar | contrary to; formal, especially in argumentative or written contrasts | Contrar așteptărilor, proiectul s-a încheiat devreme. (Contrary to expectations, the project finished early.) |
Traditional case descriptions group all six items above with a dative complement. Current dictionary entries label conform, potrivit, and contrar as adverbs in these uses, so “dative-governing” here describes the case value of the following noun phrase, not a change in the selector itself. The three thanks to forms are prepositions.
What noun forms appear after them?
Use the ordinary genitive-dative form of the noun phrase. The indefinite articles are unui, unei, and unor. The definite article usually appears as -(u)lui, -i, or -lor. The selector is invariable; gender and number belong to the noun phrase and any agreeing adjective.
| Noun phrase | Visible dative form | Example after a selector |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine or neuter singular, indefinite | unui profesor, unui proiect | datorită unui profesor (thanks to a teacher) |
| Masculine or neuter singular, definite | profesorului, proiectului | conform proiectului (according to the project) |
| Feminine singular, indefinite | unei colege, unei legi | grație unei colege (thanks to a colleague) |
| Feminine singular, definite | colegei, legii | potrivit legii (according to the law) |
| Plural, any gender, indefinite | unor colegi | datorită unor colegi (thanks to some colleagues) |
| Plural, any gender, definite | colegilor, regulilor | mulțumită colegilor (thanks to the colleagues) |
- A feminine singular noun can visibly change its stem: lege becomes legii, and colegă becomes colegei. This is a noun-form issue, not agreement with datorită or conform.
- A definite plural ends in -lor: datorită eforturilor, conform regulilor, and contrar așteptărilor. The same -lor ending can therefore be genitive or dative; the selector and meaning decide.
- Do not make the selector agree: use conform legii, not a feminine form such as conformă legii. In its adverbial selector use, potrivit also stays potrivit, even before a feminine or plural noun.
Which pronoun forms reveal the dative?
With a pronoun, use the strong dative form rather than a possessive adjective or an unstressed verbal clitic: datorită ție (thanks to you), not datorită ta. These forms make the case contrast visible when noun forms do not.
| Person | Strong dative | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | mie | Contrar mie, el acceptă riscul. (Contrary to me, he accepts the risk.) |
| 2nd singular | ție | Datorită ție, am găsit soluția. (Thanks to you, I found the solution.) |
| 3rd singular masculine | lui | Potrivit lui, planul este realist. (According to him, the plan is realistic.) |
| 3rd singular feminine | ei | Potrivit ei, planul este realist. (According to her, the plan is realistic.) |
| 1st plural | nouă | Contrar nouă, ei preferă varianta scurtă. (Contrary to us, they prefer the shorter option.) |
| 2nd plural | vouă | Datorită vouă, am găsit soluția. (Thanks to you, I found the solution.) |
| 3rd plural | lor | Grație lor, problema s-a rezolvat. (Thanks to them, the problem was solved.) |
How do these forms contrast with genitive and ordinary indirect objects?
Romanian nouns normally use the same visible form for the genitive and dative: profesorului can be either case. For the full noun paradigms, see genitive-dative noun forms. A genitive-governing phrase can express possession, source, or a relation such as “because of.” A dative selector can express a credited cause, conformity, or contrast. A verb instead licenses an ordinary indirect object, which typically identifies a recipient or beneficiary.
| Construction | Role of the noun phrase | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| Am reușit datorită Mariei. (I succeeded thanks to Maria.) | Dative-valued prepositional cause | Mariei looks like a genitive, but datorită assigns the dative value; there is no clitic. |
| Am întârziat din cauza Mariei. (I was late because of Maria.) | Genitive inside din cauza | cauza is a noun meaning “the cause”; Mariei is its genitive complement. |
| I-am trimis Mariei raportul. (I sent Maria the report.) | Ordinary verbal indirect object | The verb a trimite selects a recipient; i- is the doubled unstressed dative clitic. |
| Datorită ție, am trecut examenul. (Thanks to you, I passed the exam.) | Dative pronoun after a selector | The strong pronoun ție proves the dative; compare genitive din cauza ta. |
What meaning and register should you choose?
The case rule is grammatical, but the lexical choice carries meaning and style. Lead with datorită in ordinary neutral prose; choose mulțumită when the appreciative force is prominent and grație when a polished or formal tone suits the context. For an unwanted cause, neutral Romanian usually prefers genitive-governing din cauza: Din cauza traficului, am întârziat. (Because of the traffic, I was late.)
- A speaker can use datorită with a negative outcome to credit a cause or create irony. For straightforward blame or damage, neutral Romanian usually uses din cauza.
- Conform commonly occurs with a rule, plan, contract, or regulation: Conform contractului, plata se face lunar. (According to the contract, payment is made monthly.) Potrivit often introduces a source or assessment: Potrivit raportului, riscul este redus. (According to the report, the risk is low.) Both occur in formal, professional, and journalistic writing.
- Contrar means “contrary to” and frames a concession or opposition: Contrar așteptărilor, rezultatul a fost bun. (Contrary to expectations, the result was good.) It is more formal than an everyday paraphrase such as spre deosebire de in many contexts.
- DOOM3 records conform cu planul as well as bare conform planului, and potrivit cu ocaziile alongside potrivit ocaziilor. In the versions with cu, cu governs an accusative phrase: conform cu planul, not conform cu planului.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not use a possessive after a dative selector: datorită ție, not datorită ta; din cauza ta is the genitive contrast.
- Do not add a verbal clitic before a prepositional dative: Datorită profesorului am reușit, not Îi datorită profesorului am reușit.
- Do not infer the case from -ului, -ei, or -lor alone. Compare conform regulilor (dative-valued) with în ciuda regulilor (genitive-valued).
- Do not mix the two conform patterns: bare conform regulamentului uses the genitive-dative form, whereas conform cu regulamentul has cu followed by the accusative form.
Which sentence contains a dative-governing item?
- În fața casei, copiii se joacă.
- Din cauza ploii, meciul s-a amânat.
- Grație ploii, recolta a crescut.
- Cu trenul, ajungem la Brașov.
Grație belongs to the dative-valued “thanks to” group, so ploii is a dative form. În fața and din cauza govern genitive complements, while cu is an ordinary accusative preposition.
Choose the correct Romanian equivalent of “Thanks to you, we finished.”
- Datorită ta, am terminat.
- Datorită ție, am terminat.
- Datorită tu, am terminat.
- Din cauza ție, am terminat.
A dative selector takes the strong dative pronoun ție. Ta is possessive, tu is nominative, and din cauza is a genitive construction, so it would require ta.
Complete the sentence: Conform ___, cererea trebuie semnată. (According to the law, the application must be signed.)
- legii
- legea
- lege
- legile
The definite feminine singular dative form of lege is legii. The selector stays invariable: conform legii.
Which sentence has the Standard Romanian conform cu form?
- Conform cu planului, am schimbat ruta.
- Conform planul, am schimbat ruta.
- Conformă cu planul, am schimbat ruta.
- Conform cu planul, am schimbat ruta.
In conform cu planul, cu is the ordinary accusative preposition, so the noun is planul. Do not carry the dative-looking planului into the cu construction, and do not make conform agree.
Which sentence has an ordinary verbal indirect object meaning “I sent the teacher the report”?
- I-am trimis profesorului raportul.
- Datorită profesorului, am trimis raportul.
- Conform profesorului, am trimis raportul.
- Am trimis datorită profesorului raportul.
In I-am trimis profesorului raportul, the verb a trimite selects the recipient profesorului, and i- is the doubled dative clitic. The other options use a prepositional cause or source-style construction, not the ordinary recipient pattern.