21.02.27: Level 1; First Latin Lessons (5); dative case: 1st declension; singular and plural [i]

I: Māter mea epistulam scrībit et epistulam parvae puellae dat. Parva puella epistulam agricolae dat. Agricola epistulam legit. Agricola mihi epistulam dat. Pecūniam agricolae dō. Agricola parvae puellae pecūniam dat. Parva puella pecūniam Cornēliae dat. Cornēlia est māter parvae puellae.

II: Māter mea dōnum parvīs puellīs dat. Parvae puellae laetae sunt. Māter mea parvās puellās amat.

III: Nautae epistulās dō. Nauta epistulās incolīs īnsulārum dat. Incolae īnsulārum pecūniam nautae dant.

IV: Agricola epistulam poētae dat. Poēta pecūniam agricolae dat. Dōnum puellīs dō. Parvae puellae mihi epistulam dant. Fīlia tua pecūniam nautae dat. Nauta mihi pecūniam dat.

(1) vocabulary

• dō: I give
• dat: (he / she / it) gives
• dant: they give
• dōnum: gift
• laeta: happy
• legit: (he / she / it) reads
• māter: mother
• mihi: to me (dative case)

(2) The dative case expresses the indirect object, the person to whom, for example, something is given or said.

Poēta [A] pecūniam ¦ [B] agricolae ¦ dat.

• The poet gives [A] money ¦ [B] to the farmer.

[A] pecuniam: the direct object [accusative]

[B] agricolae: the indirect object [dative]

English can change the word order by putting the indirect object first:

The poet gives ¦ [B] the farmer [indirect object] ¦ [A] money [direct object].

At the early stages of studying Latin it is better to use the translation with to so that the Latin dative case is clearly identified.

Nauta ¦ mihi ¦ pecūniam dat.

• The sailor gives ¦ me [indirect object] ¦ money [direct object] = The sailor gives money [direct object] ¦ to me [indirect object].

Dōnum puellīs dō.

• I give the girls [indirect object] ¦ a gift [direct object] = I give a gift [direct object] ¦ to the girls [indirect object].

(3) This text deals with the dative case of 1^st declension nouns:

1^st declension: nouns end in -a

Nominative singular: puella

[i] Dative singular: puellae

Nominative plural: puellae

[ii] Dative plural: puellīs

(4)

[i] dative case singular: -ae

Parva puella epistulam agricolae dat.

[ii] dative case plural: -īs

Dōnum puellīs dō.

(5) The same endings apply to 1^st / 2^nd declension adjectives:

Māter mea … epistulam ¦ parvae puellae ¦ dat.

• My mother … gives a letter ¦ to the little girl.

Māter mea dōnum ¦ parvīs puellīs ¦ dat.

• My mother gives a gift ¦ to the little girls.

LINKS

06.03.24: introduction to the dative case

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/060324-introduction-to-dative-case.html

06.03.24: further practice in the dative case of first declension nouns

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/060324-further-practice-in-dative-case.html

all posts:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/dative%20case

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I: My mother writes a letter and gives the letter to the little girl. The little girl gives the letter to the farmer. The farmer reads the letter. The farmer gives the letter to me. I give money to the farmer. The farmer gives money to the little girl. The little girl gives money to Cornelia. Cornelia is the mother of the little girl.

II: My mother gives a gift to the little girls. The little girls are happy. My mother loves the little girls.

III: I give letters to the sailor. The sailor gives letters to the inhabitants of the islands. The inhabitants of the islands give money to the sailor. The sailor gives money to me.

IV: The farmer gives a letter to the poet. The poet gives money to the farmer. I give a gift to the girls. The little girls give a letter to me. Your daughter gives money to the sailor.