Ch. 29 & 30

HW: 29A 1,2,7 29B 1; 30A 1,2,11 (do not use genitive for "his"),19

Predicative Datives

This is a subcategory of what is sometimes called a dative of reference, and in my opinion it is similar to a dative of purpose. The name "predicative" comes from the dative noun being used as if it were a predicate adjective. When translating from Latin into English you may use the expressions "a source of___" or "serves as ____" or change the dative noun into an adjective as shown in the charts in sections 293-4.

Examples:

He is useful.
Change to Latin construction: He is for a use. (Bad English!)
Good Latin: Usui est. (usui is dative)

They were helpful.
Changed: They were for a help. (They were a source of help.)
Good Latin: Auxilio erant.

Other Things to Note

The double dative is when you have a predicative dative (or dative of purpose) with a dative of interest (typically a person or sentient being) in the same clause.

Example:
Caesar is troublesome/grievous to me.
Rephrased: Caesar is for a pain to me. (or "Caesar is a source of pain for me.")
Good Latin: Caesar mihi (dat. of interest) dolori (pred. dative) est.

The verb odi (I hate) has no passive so you must use the predicative dative odio and a dative of interest for the person/people by whom the subject is hated.

Example:
He is hated by the Romans.
Ille odio (pred. dative) Romanis (dat. of interest) est.
Literally: That guy is for a hatred (i.e. "a source of hatred") to the Romans.

Occasionally predicative datives (and double datives) appear with other verbs besides esse as noted in section 295. These I (and many others) call datives of purpose.

Example:
Milites auxilio (pred. dative) nobis (dat. of interest) venerunt.
The soldiers came as a source of aid for us.
Pastores praesidio (pred. dative) pecoribus (dat. of interest) exierunt.
The shepherds went out as a guard for the sheep. {Note the use of "as" to translate the dative.


DATIVE USES

Unfortunately dative case uses are perhaps the most confusing of any case categories, since several of them overlap in strange ways.

A dative of interest is virtually any dative that is a person or sentient being.
Subcategories include: dative of possession, ethical dative, dative of advantage/disadvantage, dative of separation, dative of agent.

Other dative uses include dative of purpose, predicative dative, dative of advantage/disadvantage,

Datives of advantage/disadvantages are subcategories of the above depending on whether something is good or bad for the dative.

The datives mentioned in section 301 are not best understood as indirect objects. Indirect objects are a subcategory of datives of interest. I would encourage you to think of these as datives of interest (or disadvantage) or datives of separation (with verbs that mean take away).

What is called a dative of advantage in section 302 is more specifically understood as an ethical dative or simply a dative of interest. It is most commonly used to show to whom a body part belongs (where we might expect a genitive of possession). Compare German Ich kaemme mir das Haare.

The datives of purpose in section 303 are related to the predicative datives but used in different contexts. Usually they may be represented in English with "for" or "for the purpose of". Note that a dative like munificationi castrorum (for the fortification of the camp) does a job very similar to a purpose clause (ut castra muniant).