Grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to which something is given
Ingrammar, thedative case (abbreviateddat, or sometimesd when it is acore argument) is agrammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "MariaJacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gaveJacob a drink". In this example, the dative marks what would be considered theindirect object of averb in English.
Sometimes the dative has functions unrelated to giving. InScottish Gaelic andIrish, the termdative case is used in traditional grammars to refer to theprepositional case-marking of nouns following simpleprepositions and the definite article. InGeorgian andHindustani (Hindi-Urdu), the dative case can also mark the subject of a sentence.[1] This is called thedative construction. InHindi, the dative construction is not limited to only certain verbs or tenses and it can be used with any verb in any tense or mood.
The dative was common among earlyIndo-European languages and has survived to the present in theBalto-Slavic branch, theGermanic branch,Albanian and others. It also exists in similar forms in several non-Indo-European languages, such as theUralic family of languages. In some languages, the dative case has assimilated the functions of other, now extinct cases. InAncient Greek, the dative has the functions of theProto-Indo-Europeanlocative andinstrumental as well as those of the original dative.
Under the influence of English, which uses the preposition "to" for (among other uses) both indirect objects (give to) and directions of movement (go to), the term "dative" has sometimes been used to describe cases that in other languages would more appropriately be calledlative.
"Dative" comes fromLatincāsus datīvus ("case for giving"), a translation of Greek δοτικὴ πτῶσις,dotikē ptôsis ("inflection for giving").[2]Dionysius Thrax in hisArt of Grammar also refers to it asepistaltikḗ "for sending (a letter)",[3] from the verbepistéllō "send to", a word from the same root asepistle.
TheOld English language had a dative case; however, the English case system gradually fell into disuse during theMiddle English period, when theaccusative and dative of pronouns merged into a singleoblique case that was also used with all prepositions. This conflation of case in Middle and Modern English has led most modern grammarians to discard the "accusative" and "dative" labels as obsolete in reference to English, often using the term "objective" for oblique.[4][5]
The dative case is rare in modern English usage, but it can be argued that it survives in a few set expressions. One example is the word "methinks", with the meaning "it seems to me". It survives in this fixed form from Old English (having undergone, however, phonetic changes with the rest of the language), in which it was constructed as "[it]" + "me" (the dative case of the personal pronoun) + "thinks" (i.e., "seems", < Old English þyncan, "to seem", a verb closely related to the verb þencan, "to think", but distinct from it in Old English; later it merged with "think" and lost this meaning).
The modern objective case pronounwhom is derived from the dative case in Old English, specifically the Old English dative pronoun "hwām" (as opposed to the modern subjective "who", which descends from Old English "hwā") – though "whom"also absorbed the functions of the Old Englishaccusative pronoun "hwone". It is also cognate to the word "wem" (the dative form of "wer") in German. The OED defines all classical uses of the word "whom" in situations where the indirect objectis not known[clarification needed] – in effect, indicating the anonymity of the indirect object.
Likewise, some of the object forms of personal pronouns are remnants of Old English datives. For example, "him" goes back to the Old English dativehim (accusative washine), and "her" goes back to the dativehire (accusative washīe). These pronouns are not pure datives in modern English; they are also used for functions previously indicated by the accusative.
In general, the dative (German:Dativ) is used to mark theindirect object of aGerman sentence. For example:
Ich schicktedem Mann(e) das Buch. (literally: I sent "to the man" the book.) – Masculine
Ich gabder Frau den Stift zurück. (literally: I gave "to the woman" the pencil back.) – Feminine
Ich überreichedem Kind(e) ein Geschenk. (literally: I hand "to the child" a present.) – Neuter
In English, the first sentence can be rendered as "I sent the bookto the man" and as "I sentthe man the book", where the indirect object is identified in English by standing in front of the direct object. The normal word order in German is to put the dative in front of the accusative (as in the example above). However, since the German dative is marked in form, it can also be putafter the accusative:Ich schickte das Buchdem Mann(e). The(e) afterMann andKind signifies a now largely archaic-e ending for certain nouns in the dative. It survives today almost exclusively in set phrases such aszu Hause (at home,lit. to house),im Zuge (in the course of), andam Tage (during the day,lit. at the day), as well as in occasional usage in formal prose, poetry, and song lyrics.
Some masculine nouns (and one neuter noun,Herz [heart]), referred to asweak nouns orn-nouns, take an -n or -en in the dative singular and plural. Many are masculine nouns ending in -e in the nominative (such asName [name],Beamte [officer], andJunge [boy]), although not all such nouns follow this rule. Many also, whether or not they fall into the former category, refer to people, animals, professions, or titles; exceptions to this include the aforementionedHerz andName, as well asBuchstabe (letter),Friede (peace),Obelisk (obelisk),Planet (planet), and others.
Certain German prepositions require the dative:aus (from),außer (out of),bei (at, near),entgegen (against),gegenüber (opposite),mit (with),nach (after, to),seit (since),von (from), andzu (at, in, to). Some other prepositions (an [at],auf [on],entlang [along],hinter [behind],in [in, into],neben (beside, next to),über [over, across],unter [under, below],vor [in front of], andzwischen [among, between]) may be used with dative (indicating current location), or accusative (indicating direction toward something).Das Buch liegt aufdem Tisch(e) (dative: The book is lying on the table), butIch lege das Buch aufden Tisch (accusative: I put the book onto the table).
In addition the four prepositions[an]statt (in place of),trotz (in spite of),während (during), andwegen (because of) which require thegenitive in modern formal language, are most commonly used with the dative in colloquial German. For example, "because of the weather" is expressed aswegen dem Wetter instead of the formally correctwegen des Wetters. Other prepositions requiring the genitive in formal language, are combined withvon ("of") in colloquial style, e.g.außerhalb vom Garten instead ofaußerhalb des Gartens ("outside the garden").
The concept of an indirect object may be rendered by a prepositional phrase. In this case, the noun's or pronoun's case is determined by the preposition, not by its function in the sentence. Consider this sentence:
Ich sandte das Buch zum Verleger. 'I sent the book to the editor.'
Here, thesubject,Ich, is in thenominative case, the direct object,das Buch, is in theaccusative case, andzum Verleger is in the dative case, sincezu always requires the dative (zum is a contraction ofzu +dem). However:
Ich habe das Buch an meinen Freund (accusative)weitergegeben. 'I forwarded the book to my friend.' (weitergeben = lit.: to give further).
In this sentence,Freund is the indirect object, but, because it followsan (direction), the accusative is required, not the dative.
All of the articles change in the dative case.
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Plural
Definite article
dem
der
dem
den
Indefinite article
einem
einer
einem
Ø (the semantically closest word would beeinigen, dative plural ofeinig)
Negative articles
keinem
keiner
keinem
keinen
Some German verbs require the dative for theirdirect objects. Common examples areantworten (to answer),danken (to thank),gefallen (to please),folgen (to follow),glauben (to believe),helfen (to help), andraten (to advise). In each case, the direct object of the verb is rendered in the dative. For example:
Meine Freunde helfenmir. (My friends help me.)
These verbs cannot be used in normal passive constructions, because German allows these only for verbs with accusative objects. It is therefore ungrammatical to say: *Ich werde geholfen. "I am helped." Instead a special construction called "impersonal passive" must be used:Mir wird geholfen, literally: "To me is helped." A colloquial (non-standard) way to form the passive voice for dative verbs is the following:Ich kriege geholfen, or:Ich bekomme geholfen, literally: "Iget helped". The use of the verb "to get" here reminds us that the dative case has something to do with giving and receiving. In German, help is not something youperform on somebody, but rather something youoffer them.
The dative case is also used with reflexive (sich) verbs when specifying what part of the self the verb is being done to:
Ich waschemich. – accusative (I wash myself.)
Ich waschemir die Hände. – dative (I wash my hands, literally "I wash for myself the hands")
Cf. the respectiveaccord inFrench: "Les enfants se sont lavés" ("The children have washed themselves") vs. "Les enfants se sont lavé [uninflected]les mains" ("... their hands").
German can use two datives to make sentences like:Sei mir meinem Sohn(e) gnädig! "For my sake, have mercy on my son!" Literally: "Be for me to my son merciful." The first dativemir ("for me") expresses the speaker's commiseration (much like thedativus ethicus in Latin, see below). The second dativemeinem Sohn(e) ("to my son") names the actual object of the plea. Mercy is to be givento the sonfor oron behalf of his mother/father.
Adjective endings alsochange in the dative case. There are three inflection possibilities depending on what precedes the adjective. They most commonly useweak inflection when preceded by a definite article (the),mixed inflection after an indefinite article (a/an), andstrong inflection when a quantity is indicated (many green apples).
There are several uses for the dative case (Dativus):
Dativus finalis (dative of purpose), e.g.non scholae sed vitae – "[we learn] not for school, but for life",auxilio vocare – "to call for help",venio auxilio – "I'm coming for help",accipio dono – "I receive [this] as a gift" orpuellae ornamento est – "[this] is for the girl's decoration", or "... for decoration for the girl" (aspuellae could be either dative or genitive)
Dativus commodi (incommodi), which means action for (or against) somebody, e.g.,Graecis agros colere – "to till fields for Greeks"; Combination ofDativus commodi andfinalis (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 acopula and translated as "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 for me?" (expressing the speaker being especially interested in what Celsus is doing for him or her);[6] orCui prodest? "Whose interest does this serve?" (literally "To whom does this do good?")
Dativus auctoris, meaning; 'in the eyes of', e.g.,vir bonus mihi videtur 'he seems to me to be a good man'.
The dative expresses agency with thegerundive when the gerundive is used to convey obligation or necessity,[7] e.g.,haec nobis agenda sunt, 'these things must be done by us.'
In addition to its main function as thedativus, the dative case has other functions inClassical Greek:[8] (The chart below uses the Latin names for the types of dative; the Greek name for the dative is δοτική πτῶσις, like its Latin equivalent, derived from the verb "to give"; in Ancient Greek, δίδωμι.)
Dativus finalis: Thedativus finalis, or the 'dative of purpose', is when the dative is used to denotethe purpose of a certain action. For example:
"τῷ βασιλεῖ μάχομαι"
"I fightfor the king".
"θνῄσκωτῇ τιμῇ"
"I diefor honour".
Dativus commŏdi (incommodi): Thedativus commodi sive incommodi, or the 'dative of benefit (or harm)' is the dative that expresses the advantage or disadvantage of somethingfor someone. For example:
For the benefit of: "πᾶς ἀνὴραὑτῷ πονεῖ" (Sophocles,Ajax 1366).
"Every man toilsfor himself".
For the harm or disadvantage of: "ἥδε ἡ ἡμέρατοῖς Ἕλλησι μεγάλων κακῶν ἄρξει." (Thucydides 2.12.4).
"This day will be the beginning of great sorrowsfor the Greeks (i.e., for their disadvantage)".
Dativus possessivus: Thedativus possessivus, or the 'dative of possession' is the dative used to denotethe possessor of a certain object or objects. For example:
"Forothers have a lot of money and ships and horses, but we have good allies (i.e., To others there is a lot of money...)".
Dativus ethicus: Thedativus ethicus, or the 'ethic or polite dative,' is when the dative is used to signify that the person or thing spoken of is regarded with interest by someone. This dative is mostly, if not exclusively, used in pronouns. As such, it is also called the "dative of pronouns." For example:
"Oh, mother, how handsome grandpa is (I've just realized!)".
Dativus auctoris: Thedativus auctoris, or the 'dative of agent,' is the dative used to denotethe doer of an action. Note, however, that in Classical Greek, the agent is usually in thegenitive afterὑπό (by, at the hands of). The agent is in the dative most often with theperfect andpluperfectpassive, and with the verbaladjective in-τέος. For example:
Dativus instrumenti: Thedativus instrumenti, or the 'dative of instrument,' is when the dative is used to denote an instrument or means of a certain action (or, more accurately, as theinstrumental case). For example:
The dative case, strictly speaking, no longer exists in Modern Greek, except in fossilized expressions like δόξα τω Θεώ (from the ecclesiastical τῷ Θεῷ δόξα, "Glory to God") or εν τάξει (ἐν τάξει, lit. "in order", i.e. "all right" or "OK"). Otherwise, most of the functions of the dative are expressed by thegenitive or byprepositional phrases.
Unusual in other Indo-European branches but common amongSlavic languages, endings of nouns and adjectives are different based on grammatical function. Other factors are gender and number. In some cases, the ending may not be obvious, even when those three factors (function, gender, number) are considered. For example, in Polish, 'syn' ("son") and 'ojciec' ("father") are both masculine singular nouns, yet appear assyn → synowi andojciec → ojcu in the dative.
InRussian, the dative case is used for indicating the indirect object of an action (that to which something is given, thrown, read, etc.). In the instance where a person is the goal of motion, dative is used instead ofaccusative to indicate motion toward. This is usually achieved with the prepositionκ + destination in dative case;К врачу, meaning "to the doctor."
Dative is also the necessary case taken by certainprepositions when expressing certain ideas. For instance, when the prepositionпо is used to mean "along", its object is always in dative case, as inПо бокам, meaning "along the sides."
after certain verbs (dziękowaćkomuś "to thank someone", pomóckomuś "to help someone", wierzyćkomuś "to believe someone")
in certain expressions (Czy podobaci się piosenka? "Do you like the song?", Jestmi zimno "I'm cold", Jestnam smutno "We're feeling sad", Będziewam trudniej... "It will be more difficult for you guys"), Śniłojej się, że... "She dreamt that"
dativus commodi to indicate action for somebody (Zbuduję temu człowiekowi dom "I will build a house for this person")
when something is taken away or something occurs to someone (Zdechłim pies "Their dog died"; Zabralimu komputer "They took away his computer"; Zepsułnam się samochód "Our car broke down"; Cośmi się przypomniało "I just remembered something")
Some other kinds of dative use as found in theSerbo-Croatian language are:Dativus finalis (Titaniku u pomoć "to Titanic's rescue"),Dativus commodi/incommodi (Operisvojoj majci suđe "Wash the dishes for your mother"),Dativus possessivus (Ovcama je dlaka gusta "Sheep's hair is thick"),Dativus ethicus (Šta/štomi radi Boni? "What is Boni doing? (I am especially interested in what it is)") and Dativus auctoris (Izgledami okej "It seems okay to me").[clarification needed]
BothLithuanian andLatvian have a distinct dative case in the system of nominal declensions.
Lithuanian nouns preserve Indo-European inflections in the dative case fairly well: (o-stems) vaikas -> sg. vaikui, pl. vaikams; (ā-stems) ranka -> sg. rankai, pl. rankoms; (i-stems) viltis -> sg. vilčiai, pl. viltims; (u-stems) sūnus -> sg. sūnui, pl. sūnums; (consonant stems) vanduo -> sg. vandeniui, pl. vandenims.
Adjectives in the dative case receive pronominal endings (this might be the result of a more recent development): tas geras vaikas -> sg. tam geram vaikui, pl. tiems geriems vaikams.
The dative case in Latvian underwent further simplifications – the original masculine endings ofboth nouns and adjectives have been replaced with pronominal inflections: tas vīrs -> sg. tam vīram, pl. tiem vīriem. Also, the final "s" in all Dative forms has been dropped. The only exception is personal pronouns in the plural: mums (to us), jums (to you). In colloquial Lithuanian the final "s" in the dative is often omitted, as well: time geriem vaikam.
In both Latvian and Lithuanian, the main function of the dative case is to render the indirect object in a sentence: (lt) aš duodu vyrui knygą; (lv) es dodu [duodu] vīram grāmatu –I am giving a book to the man.
The dative case can also be used with gerundives to indicate an action preceding or simultaneous with the main action in a sentence: (lt) jam įėjus, visi atsistojo –when he walked in, everybody stood up, lit.to him having walked in, all stood up; (lt) jai miegant, visi dirbo –while she slept, everybody was working, lit.to her sleeping, all were working.
In modern standard Lithuanian, Dative case is not required by prepositions, although in many dialects it is done frequently: (dial.) iki (+D) šiai dienai, (stand.) iki (+G) šios dienos –up until this day.
In Latvian, the dative case is taken by several prepositions in the singular andall prepositions in the plural (due to peculiar historical changes): sg. bez (+G) tevis(without thee) ~ pl. bez (+D) jums(without you); sg. pa (+A) ceļu(along the road) ~ pl. pa (+D) ceļiem(along the roads).
In modernEastern Armenian, the dative is attained by adding any article to the genitive:
dog = շուն
GEN > շան(of the dog; dog's) with no articles
DAT > շանը or շանն(to the dog) with definite articles (-ն if preceding a vowel)
DAT >մի շան(to a dog) with indefinite article
DAT > շանս(to my dog) with 1st person possessive article
DAT > շանդ(to your dog) with 2nd person possessive article
There is a general tendency to view -ին as the standard dative suffix, but only because that is its most productive (and therefore common) form.[9] The suffix -ին as a dative marker is nothing but the standard, most common, genitive suffix -ի accompanied by the definite article -ն. But the dative case encompasses indefinite objects as well, which will not be marked by -ին:
Definite DAT > Ես գիրքը տվեցիտղային:(I gave the bookto the boy)
Indefinite DAT> Ես գիրքը տվեցիմի տղայի:(I gave the bookto a boy)
The main function of the dative marking in Armenian is to indicate the receiving end of an action, more commonly the indirect object which in English is preceded by the prepositionto. In the use of "giving" verbs likegive, donate, offer, deliver, sell, bring... the dative marks the recipient. With communicative verbs liketell, say, advise, explain, ask, answer... the dative marks the listener. Other verbs whose indirect objects are marked by the dative case in Armenian areshow, reach, look, approach...
Eastern Armenian also uses the dative case to mark the time of an event, in the same way English uses the prepositionat, as inMeet me at nine o' clock.
Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu) has true dative case for pronouns, but for nouns the dative case has to be constructed using the dative case-marker (postposition) को کو (ko) to the nouns in their oblique case. Pronouns in Hindustani also have an oblique case, so dative pronouns can also be alternatively constructed using the dative case-marker को کو (ko) with the pronouns in their oblique case, hence forming two sets of synonymous dative pronouns. The following table shows the pronouns in their nominative and their dative forms. Hindustani lacks pronouns in the third person and the demonstrative pronouns double as the third person pronouns.[10][1]
Case
Personal Pronouns
Non-Personal Pronouns
1st Person
2nd Person
Demonstrative
Relative
Interrogative
Intimate
Neutral
Formal
Proximal
Distal
Singular
Plural
Singular
Singular & Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Nominative
मैं
میں
ma͠i
हम
ہم
ham
तू
تو
tū
तुम
تم
tum
आप
آپ
āp
यह
یہ
yah
ये
یے
ye
वह
وہ
vah
वे
وے
ve
जो
جو
jo
कौन
کون
kaun
Dative
मुझे
مجھے
mujhe
हमें
ہمیں
hamẽ
तुझे
تجھے
tujhe
तुम्हें
تمھیں
tumhẽ
आपको
آپ کوāp ko
इसे
اسے
ise
इन्हें
انہیں
inhẽ
उसे
اسے
use
उन्हें
انہیں
unhẽ
जिसे
جسے
jise
जिन्हें
جنہیں
jinhẽ
किसे
کیسے
kise
किन्हें
کنھیں
kinhẽ
The table below shows the oblique cases of Hindustani for the nounsboy andgirl which take in the dative case-marker after them to assign the combination of the oblique case and the case-marker the dative case. The oblique case of Hindustani by itself has no meaning and adding the case-marker को کو (ko) assigns the oblique case the function of the dative case.[11][12][13][14][2]
Case
boy
girl
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Nominative
लड़का
لڑکا
laṛkā
लड़के
لڑکے
laṛke
लड़की
لڑکی
laṛkī
लड़कियाँ
لڑکیاں
laṛkiyā̃
Dative
लड़के को
لڑکے کو
laṛke-ko
लड़कों को
لڑکوں کو
laṛkõ-ko
लड़की को
لڑکی کو
laṛkī-ko
लड़कियों को
لڑکیوں کو
laṛkiyõ-ko
Dative case in Hindustani can also mark the subject of a sentence. This is called thedative construction orquirky subjects.[1] In the examples below the dative pronoun passes the subjecthood test of subject-oriented anaphora binding. The dative subject मुझे مجھے (mujhe) binds theanaphora अपने اپنے (apne).
The dative case is known as the "fourth case" (chaturthi-vibhakti) in the usual procedure in the declension of nouns. Its use is mainly for the indirect object.
puruṣobhāryāyai dadāti — The man gives everythingto his wife.
yuddhāyāgacchāmīti bhaṇati vīraḥ — The hero says, "I comefor battle."
The fourth case can also be used to indicate a recipient of worship.
As with many other languages, the dative case is used inHungarian to show the indirect object of a verb. For example,Dánielnek adtam ezt a könyvet (I gave this bookto Dániel). It has two suffixes,-nak and-nek; the correct one is selected byvowel harmony. The personal dative pronouns follow the-nek version:nekem,neked, etc. This case is also used to express "for" in certain circumstances, such as "I bought a gift for Mother". In possessive constructions the nak/nek endings are also used but this is not the dative form (rather, theattributive or possessive case)[15]
Finnish does not have a separate dative case. However, theallative case can fulfill essentially the same role as dative, beyond its primary meaning of directional movement (that is, going somewhere or approaching someone). For example:He lahjoittivat kaikki rahansaköyhille (They donated all their moneyto the poor.) It is similar in Estonian.
In the Northeast Caucasian languages, such asTsez, the dative also takes the functions of thelative case in marking the direction of an action. By some linguists, they are still regarded as two separate cases in those languages, although the suffixes are exactly the same for both cases. Other linguists list them separately only for the purpose of separating syntactic cases from locative cases. An example with the ditransitive verb "show" (literally: "make see") is given below:
As in the examples above, the dative/lative case usually occurs in combination with another suffix as poss-lative case; this should not be regarded as a separate case, however, as many of the locative cases in Tsez are constructed analytically; hence, they are, in fact, a combination of two case suffixes. SeeTsez language#Locative case suffixes for further details.
Verbs of perception or emotion (like "see", "know", "love", "want") also require the logical subject to stand in the dative/lative case. In this example the "pure" dative/lative without its POSS-suffix is used.
Thedative case (yönelme durumu) in theTurkish language is formed by adding the ''-e" or "-a''suffixes to the end of the noun, in accordance with the effected noun'svowel harmony. The word that should be in the dative case can be found as an answer to the questions 'neye?' (to what?), 'kime?' (to whom?) and 'nereye?' (to where?) will lead to find a dative case in a sentence.[16] There are many different uses for the dative case.
The dative also is for objects, usually indirect objects, but sometimes objects that in English would be considered direct:
Güneşin
sun's
batışına
at-its-sinking
bak.
look
Güneşin batışına bak.
sun's at-its-sinking look
"Look at the sunset."
The dative case tellswhither, that is, the placeto which. Thus it has roughly the meaning of the English prepositions "to" and "into", and also "in" when it can be replaced with "into":
