Dative of Indirect Object.

187. The commonest use of the Dative is to denote the person to whom something is given, said, or done. Thus:—

I. With transitive verbs in connection with the Accusative; as,—

hanc pecūniam mihi dat, he gives me this money;

haec nōbīs dīxit, he said this to us.

a. Some verbs which take this construction (particularly dōnō and circumdō) admit also the Accusative of the person along with the Ablative of the thing. Thus:—

Either Themistoclī mūnera dōnāvit, he presented gifts to Themistocles, or

Themistoclem mūneribus dōnāvit, he presented Themistocles with gifts;

urbī mūrōs circumdat, he builds walls around the city, or

urbem mūrīs circumdat, he surrounds the city with walls

II. With many intransitive verbs; as,—

nūllī labōrī cēdit, he yields to no labor.

a. Here belong many verbs signifying favor,^[48] help, injure, please, displease, trust, distrust, command, obey, serve, resist, indulge, spare, pardon, envy, threaten, be angry, believe, persuade, and the like; as,—

Caesar populāribus favet, Caesar favors (i.e. is favorable to) the popular party;

amīcīs cōnfīdō, I trust (to) my friends;

Orgetorīx Helvētiīs persuāsit, Orgetorix persuaded (made it acceptable to) the Helvetians;

bonīs nocet quī malīs parcit, he injures (does harm to) the good, who spares the bad.

NOTE.—It is to be borne in mind that these verbs do not take the Dative by virtue of their apparent English equivalence, but simply because they are intransitive, and adapted to an indirect object. Some verbs of the same apparent English equivalence are transitive and govern the Accusative; as, juvō, laedō, dēlectō. Thus: audentēs deus juvat, God helps the bold; nēminem laesit he injured no one.

b. Verbs of this class are used in the passive only impersonally; as,—

tibi parcitur, you are spared;

mihi persuādētur, I am being persuaded;

eī invidētur, he is envied.

c. Some of the foregoing verbs admit also a Direct Object in connection with the Dative; as,—

mihi mortem minitātur, he threatens me with death (threatens death to me).

III. With many verbs compounded with the prepositions: ad, ante, circum, com,^[49] in, inter, ob, post, prae, prō, sub, super.

These verbs fall into two main classes,—

1. Many simple verbs which cannot take a Dative of the indirect object become capable of doing so when compounded with a preposition; as,—

afflīctīs succurrit, he helps the aflicted;

exercituī praefuit, he was in command of the army;

intersum cōnsiliīs, I share in the deliberations.

2. Many transitive verbs which take only a direct object become capable, when compounded, of taking a dative also as indirect object; as,—

pecūniae pudōrem antepōnit, he puts honor before money;

inicere spem amīcīs, to inspire hope in one's friends;

mūnītiōni Labiēnum praefēcit, he put Labienus in charge of the fortifications.

Dative of Reference.

188. 1. The Dative of Reference denotes the person to whom a statement refers, of whom it is true, or to whom it is of interest; as,—

mihi ante oculōs versāris, you hover before my eyes (lit. hover before the eyes to me);

illī sevēritās amōrem nōn dēminuit, in his case severity did not diminish love (lit. to him severity did not diminish);

interclūdere inimīcīs commeātum, to cut of the supplies of the enemy.

a. Note the phrase alicui interdīcere aquā et īgnī, to interdict one from fire and water.

NOTE.—The Dative of Reference, unlike the Dative of Indirect Object, does not modify the verb, but rather the sentence as a whole. It is often used where, according to the English idiom, we should expect a Genitive; so in the first and third of the above examples.

2. Special varieties of the Dative of Reference are—

a) Dative of the Local Standpoint. This is regularly a participle; as,—

oppidum prīmum Thessaliae venientibus ab Ēpīrō, the first town of Thessaly as you come from Epirus (lit. to those coming from Epirus).

b) Ethical Dative. This name is given to those Dative constructions of the personal pronouns in which the connection of the Dative with the rest of the sentence is of the very slightest sort; as,—

tū mihi istīus audāciam dēfendis? tell me, do you defend that man's audacity?

quid mihi Celsus agit? what is my Celsus doing?

c) Dative of Person Judging; as,—

erit ille mihi semper deus, he will always be a god to me (i.e. in my opinion);

quae ista servitūs tam clāro hominī, how can that be slavery to so illustrious a man (i.e. to his mind)!

d) Dative of Separation. Some verbs of taking away, especially compounds of ab, dē, ex, ad, govern a Dative of the person, less often of the thing; as,—

honōrem dētrāxērunt hominī, they took away the honor from the man;

Caesar rēgī tetrarchiam ēripuit, Caesar took the tetrarchy away from the king;

silicī scintillam excūdit, he struck a spark from the flint.