Definition & Meaning of "dative case"

What is the "dative case"?

The dative case is a grammatical category used in some languages to indicate the indirect object of a verb, typically representing the recipient of an action or the entity affected by it. In languages that use the dative case, it often answers questions like "to whom?" or "for whom?" For example, in the German sentence "Ich gebe dem Mann ein Buch," which means "I give the man a book," "dem Mann" is in the dative case, indicating that the man is the recipient of the book. The dative case helps clarify relationships between verbs and objects in sentences.