Ch 5 · Lesson 17Latin · Chapter 5 · Lesson 17 · Grammar primer
Verbs that take the dative: Deo credo
, impero, noceo, pareo: verbs whose person goes in the dative, because in Latin they mean put faith in, give orders to, do harm to. Then how to tell -ae and -i apart.
The short version
Some Latin verbs take a dative where English takes an object
.
Why?Hide
, pareo, , , noceo, faveo, persuadeo and impero all look transitive in English and are not in Latin. Read them the Latin way and the dative makes sense: is put faith in someone, pareo be obedient to someone, noceo do harm to someone. is I trust God; would not say that.
Verbs that take the dative
These verbs are taught as a list of exceptions, but they make sense once you see them the Latin way: they are intransitive, and the person is someone the action is directed to. Only the English translation is transitive.
| Latin | English | Literally |
|---|---|---|
| trust, believe | put faith in someone |
pareo | obey | be obedient to someone |
| please | be pleasing to someone |
| serve | be a servant to someone |
noceo | harm | do harm to someone |
faveo | favour | be favourable to someone |
persuadeo | persuade | make it convincing to someone |
impero | command | give orders to someone |
.- I trust God.paremus.- We obey the king..- The girl pleases her father.imperat.- He gives orders to the soldiers.
splits: the person trusted is dative, the thing believed accusative, and both can appear at once.
.- I believe you about this.
Church Latin adds a third shape. The Creed opens , I believe in one God, with and the accusative for faith in someone. That is correct Church Latin, modelled on the Greek of the New Testament; it is just not how Cicero put it.
Some adjectives take the dative in the same way:
Telling them apart at speed
| Ending | Could be | Settle it by |
|---|---|---|
-ae (1st) | gen sg, sg, nom pl | its neighbour: noun, verb, subject |
-i (2nd) | gen sg ( | the verb's number |
- (2nd) | dat sg ( | a preposition, or its absence |
- (pl) | pl, abl pl | a preposition, or its absence |
The third declension is kinder: (of the king) and (to the king) never collide.
When an -ae or -i form appears, ask what it stands next to. Hard against another noun, it is a genitive. Near a verb of giving, obeying or pleasing, it is a dative.
Going further: The forms, in one place and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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