Dative Case - Latin

Latin

Except the main case (Dativus), there are several other kinds:

  • Dativus finalis with the meaning of purpose, e.g., auxilio vocare - "to call for help", venio auxilio - "I'm coming for help", accipio dono - "I receive this as a gift" or puellae ornamento est - "this serves for the girl's decoration";
  • Dativus commodi (incommodi), which means action for somebody, e.g., Graecis agros colere - "to till fields for Greeks"; Combination of Dativus commodi and finalis (double Dative): tibi laetitiae "to you for joy"
  • Dativus possessivus (possessive dative) which means possession, e.g., angelis alae sunt - literally "to (or for) the angels are wings", this is typically found with a copula and translated as "the angels have wings".
  • Dativus ethicus (ethic dative) indicates that the person in the dative is or should be especially concerned about the action, e.g., 'quid mihi Celsus agit?' ' What is Celsus doing' (I am especially interested in what it is)?
  • Dativus auctoris, meaning; 'in the eyes of', e.g., 'vir bonus mihi videtur' 'the man seems good to me'.
  • The Dative is also used to express agency with the gerundive, a future passive participle that, along with the verb to be, expresses obligation or necessity of the action being performed on the noun with which it agrees, e.g., 'haec nobis agenda sunt,' 'these things must be done by us'

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