Which case a verb demands is a fact about that verb, not about meaning - and the places where Belarusian and Russian disagree are exactly where a fluent-sounding speaker goes wrong.
I can use the right case with common verbs and I know the short list where Belarusian and Russian disagree.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Дзякую вам за дапамогу.
Thank you for your help.
Не смейся з яго, ён стараўся.
Do not laugh at him, he tried.
Ён хварэе на грып ужо тыдзень.
He has had flu for a week.
Яна цікавіцца беларускай гісторыяй.
She is interested in Belarusian history.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
You cannot work out which case a verb takes from what it means. It has to be learned with the verb, the way gender is learned with a noun.
| Case | Verbs |
|---|---|
| Accusative | чытаць, бачыць, любіць, купляць, рабіць |
| Genitive | баяцца, чакаць (something uncertain), жадаць, дасягнуць |
| Dative | дапамагаць, дзякаваць, вучыцца, верыць, шкодзіць |
| Instrumental | кіраваць, займацца, цікавіцца, ганарыцца, карыстацца |
These are worth learning as a short list, because a speaker who has stopped thinking about grammar will get them wrong by reflex:
| Belarusian | Case | Note |
|---|---|---|
| дзякаваць каму | dative | дзякую вам |
| дараваць каму | dative | даруй мне |
| смяяцца з каго | з + genitive | не над, but з |
| жартаваць з каго | з + genitive | same pattern |
| хварэць на што | на + accusative | хварэе на грып |
| ажаніцца з кім | з + instrumental | - |
| падобны да каго | да + genitive | падобны да бацькі |
Смяяцца з and хварэць на are the two that catch people most often.
After a negated verb the object may move from the accusative into the genitive, and the genitive makes the negation more sweeping:
At A1 the accusative was correct and remains so; the genitive is the extra option this level adds.
Verbs of giving and telling take the thing in the accusative and the person in the dative: Я даў сястры кнігу, Ён сказаў мне праўду.
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesTypical errors: assuming the case follows from the meaning, and carrying a familiar government pattern across from another language.
Using the accusative with дзякаваць
It takes the dative: дзякую вам, дзякую сябру.
Using над with смяяцца
It takes з with the genitive: смяяцца з яго.
Using the instrumental with хварэць
It takes на with the accusative: хварэць на грып.
Using на with падобны
It takes да with the genitive: падобны да бацькі.
Дзякую вам за дапамогу.
Thank you for your help.
<em>Дзякаваць</em> takes the dative - the person is <em>вам</em>, not <em>вас</em>.
Не смейся з яго, ён стараўся.
Do not laugh at him, he tried.
<em>Смяяцца</em> takes <em>з</em> with the genitive, not <em>над</em>.
Ён хварэе на грып ужо тыдзень.
He has had flu for a week.
<em>Хварэць</em> takes <em>на</em> with the accusative.
Яна цікавіцца беларускай гісторыяй.
She is interested in Belarusian history.
<em>Цікавіцца</em> takes the instrumental, and the adjective goes with it.
Сын вельмі падобны да бацькі.
The son looks very like his father.
<em>Падобны</em> takes <em>да</em> with the genitive, where Russian uses <em>на</em>.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises
The current academic reference grammar; the linked edition serves the full text. Cited for its verb section, which treats the infinitive, transitivity and reflexivity before the conjugation paradigms, and gives the participle suffixes -уч- (-юч-), -ач- (-яч-) and -ш-, -ўш-, -т-, -н- alongside the gerund suffixes -ўшы, -шы and -учы (-ючы), -ачы (-ячы).
The academic reference grammar behind the phonology, orthoepy and morphology sections: the 32-letter inventory, дж and дз as digraphs rather than letters, and the normative description of akanne and jakanne. A print work; no URL is given, because the only one available is a library catalogue record that carries none of the text.