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RSSWhat is Dative Case?
A reader asks about the grammatical term “dative case.”
English makes use of four “cases” – Nominative, Genitive, Accusative, and Dative.
The term “case” applies to nouns and pronouns.
The case of a noun or pronoun is determined by what the word does in the sentence.
A noun or pronoun is in the “Nominative Case” when it is the subject of a sentence, or when it completes a being verb.
A noun or pronoun is in the “Genitive Case” when it shows possession.
A noun or pronoun is in the “Accusative Case” when it receives the action of a transitive verb, or when it serves as the object of a preposition. Another term for “Accusative” is ‘Objective.”
A noun or pronoun is in the Dative Case when it is used as an indirect object.
Ex. Oma gave me a puppy.
This sentence contains two objects, a direct object and an indirect object.
To find the direct object, find the verb and ask “what?”
Question: gave what?
Answer: gave puppy.
Puppy is the direct object. It receives the action of the verb.
To find the indirect object, find the verb and ask “to whom?” or “to what?” “for whom?” or “for what?”
Question gave to whom?
Answer: to me
Me is the indirect object.
Me is a pronoun in the dative case. It does not receive the action of the verb directly, but it does receive it indirectly.
Here are some more examples of sentences that contain nouns or pronouns in the dative case:
The king gave his son his crown.
Gwen sent her boyfriend a Valentine.
The mother made them Koolaid.
I read my children the Narnia books.
The Eagle Scout built the homeless man a shelter.
TIP: The indirect object always stands between the verb and its direct object. (I suppose it might be possible to find some exceptions in Milton.)
When a personal pronoun is used as an indirect object it will, of course, take the object form: I baked him a cake.
The teaching of formal grammar in the American English classroom has been in decline for many years now. An academic debate about “explicit” and “implicit” grammar instruction rages. As with most debates, each side has valid points to make.
A mind-numbing, isolated exercise approach is not desirable, but neither is throwing out all formal grammar instruction. Students need to be taught the terms–especially if they intend to study a foreign language.
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I definitely agree that grammar is much rarer to find in an American English classroom these days. I learned how to map sentences in my college Latin classes . . .
How much is the software (WhiteSmoke) cost?
Do any nouns or pronouns take a different form in the accusative vs the dative case? If not, why do we say that English makes use of four cases? It seems like only three: Nominative, Genitive, and Accusative/Dative.
DEar sir
Isn’t there a subjunctive case, still used in english, although infrequently perhaps and when it is used people don’t know they have used it?
I have never understood it ,so can someone help me.
Richard,
You may be thinking of Subjunctive Mood, a term that is used in describing the function of verbs.
See http://www.dailywritingtips.co.....verb-mood/
John,
I suppose it would be possible to speak of only three cases in English if the concept of case were based on the form of the pronoun and not its function. Nouns, however, retain the same form when used in either Nominative or Accusative.
Here’s a thought: If English speakers continue in the trend of misusing the personal pronouns, English may eventually be left with only one case.
The indirect object usually follows the direct object when preceded by a preposition. For example, I gave some money to Jim.
On the subjunctive, one use is in contrary-to-fact contexts as in the song, “If I were a rich man.”
Charles,
My understanding of the Dative Case is that the “to” or “for” is understood.
Once you have “to Jim” you have a prepositional phrase.
Maeve,
You’re right. Cases usually refer to the inflection of a noun or pronoun, and so in one sense, “to me” would be a prepositional phrase. Yet, that prepositional phrase accomplishes the dative function. I can imagine that there might be disagreement on that perspective, but see http://www.bartleby.com/68/22/1622.html
Charles,
Thanks for the link.
I suggest that everyone check it out. An analytic language like English cannot be defined by the rules of a synthetic language like Latin.