CEN: Lesson - The Dative Case: The Indirect Object

Dative Case: The Indirect Object

The Dative case most often represents the indirect object of a sentence. The indirect object answers the question, "To whom?" or "For whom?". The dative is usually translated with the English preposition to or for but can sometimes be placed in front of the direct object, in which case, no preposition is used in English. In the examples below, two translations are presented: one in which "to" is used, and one, labelled "Alt", that uses no preposition.

Dative Case Examples

Latin Examples

 English Translations

Senator domino epistulam dedit.

 The senator gave a letter to the master.

(Alt: The senator gave the master a letter.)

Mercator feminae panem monstraverat.

The merchant showed the bread to the woman. 

(Alt: The merchant showed the woman the bread.)

Poeta hospitibus fabulam narravit.

The poet told a story to the guests.

(Alt: The poet told the guests a story.)

Take careful note of where the dative noun was placed in each sample sentence above: it is immediately in front of the direct object. This is typical of Latin word order, so it will be common to see:

  • Subject (nom), indirect object (dat), direct object (acc), verb.

Indirect Object vs. Ad + Accusative

Remember that the dative (indirect object) is translated to or for someone. The dative case is never used to represent motion to or towards something; instead use the preposition ad + the accusative case. See the following chart for how these similar translations compare.

Indirect Object vs. Ad + Accusative Case

Accusative Case (motion: ad + accusative)

Dative Case (indirect object with verb of giving, showing or telling)

Servus cibum ad hospites portat.

  • The slave carries food to the guests.

Servus cibum hospitibus monstrat.

  • The slave shows the food to the guests.

Flavia ad amicos movit.

  • Flavia moved towards her friends.

Flavia amicis fabulam narravit.

  • Flavia told a story to her friends.