Dative

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The dative case is a grammatical case of the indirect object generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given. For example, in "Brutus gave a book to Cassius".

The dative generally marks the indirect object of a verb, although in some instances the dative is used for the direct object of a verb pertaining directly to an act of giving something.

Contents 1 Form 2 Function 2.1 Indirect object 2.2 Reference 2.3 Dative with compound verbs 2.4 Usage in practice 3 Forming the dative in all declensions

Form

Here are the basic and very general rules for making a dative in singular:

• If a word ends in "-us", then the dative ends in "-o". "Tullius" becomes "Tullio".
• If a word ends in "-a", then the dative ends in "-ae". "Livia" becomes "Liviae".
• If a word ends in "-o", then the dative ends in "-oni". "Cicero" becomes "Ciceroni".
• If a word ends in "-ns", then the dative ends in "-nti". "Sapiens" becomes "Sapienti".

• Many other words change their ending to "-i" whose rules are more difficult and are not detailed here. Here are some just for example:

"Senatus" in dative is "Senatui",

"Venus" in dative is "Veneri",

"exercitus" in dative is "exercitui",

"homo" in dative is "homini",

"consul" in dative is "consuli",

"praetor" in dative is "praetori",

"aedilis" in dative is "aedili", and so on.

Function

Indirect object

Reference

Possessive pronouns in Latin indicate possession strictly. Some relations that are expressed in English with a possessive, such as reference (My name is Gaius) use the dative of reference (Nomen mihi Gaius est.)

Dative with compound verbs

Compound transitive verbs built with the following prefixes normally take a direct object in the dative.

• ab-, ante-, circum-, con-, in-, inter-, ob-, post-, prae-, pro-, sub-, super-

Usage in practice

An average Nova Roman citizen would use the dative case in the Latin beginning of an e-mail. Learn more about Latin for e-mail.

Forming the dative in all declensions

	First declension		Second declension
	A-Stem		O-Stem
	mf terra, -ae, f		mf tribúnus, -í, m		n auspicium, -í, n
	Singular		Singular		Singular
Nominative	terra	——	tribúnus	——	auspicium	——
Accusative	terram	–am	tribúnum	–um	auspicium	——
Genitive	terrae	–ae	tribúní	–í	auspicií	–í
Dative	terrae	–ae	tribúnó	–ó	auspició	–ó
Ablative	terrá	–á	tribúnó	–ó	auspició	–ó
	Plural		Plural		Plural
Nominative	terrae	–ae	tribúní	–í	auspicia	–a
Accusative	terrás	–ás	tribúnós	–ós	auspicia	–a
Genitive	terrárum	–árum	tribúnórum	–órum	auspiciórum	–órum
Dative- Ablative	terrís	–ís	tribúnís	–ís	auspiciís	–ís

	Third declension								Fourth declension
	Consonant Stem				I-Stem				U-Stem
	mf léx, légis, f		n iús, iúris, n		mf cívis, -is, mf		n mare, -is, n		mf senátus, -ús, m		n cornú, -ús, n
	Singular		Singular		Singular		Singular		Singular		Singular
Nominative	léx	——	iús	——	cívis	——	mare	——	senátus	——	cornú	——
Accusative	légem	–em	iús	——	cívem	–em	mare	——	senátum	–um	cornú	——
Genitive	légis	–is	iúris	–is	cívis	–is	maris	–is	senátús	–ús	cornús	–ús
Dative	légí	–í	iúrí	–í	cíví	–í	marí	–í	senátuí	–uí	cornú	–ú
Ablative	lége	–e	iúre	–e	cíve	–e	marí	–í	senátú	–ú	cornú	–ú
	Plural		Plural		Plural		Plural		Plural		Plural
Nominative- Accusative	légés	–és	iúra	–a	cívés	–és	maria	–ia	senátús	–ús	cornua	–ua
Genitive	légum	–um	iúrum	–um	cívium	–ium	marium	–ium	senátuum	–uum	cornuum	–uum
Dative- Ablative	légibus	–ibus	iúribus	–ibus	cívibus	–ibus	maribus	–ibus	senátibus	–ibus	cornibus	–ibus

	Fifth declension
	E-Stem
	mf diés, éí, m
	Singular
Nominative	diés	——
Accusative	diem	–em
Genitive- Dative	diéí	–éí
Ablative	dié	–é
	Plural
Nominative- Accusative	diés	–és
Genitive	diérum	–érum
Dative- Ablative	diébus	–ébus