LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
Allen & Greenough · Part Second — Syntax › Construction of Cases

§376. Dative of Reference

The Dative often depends, not on any particular word, but on the general meaning of the sentence (Dative of Reference).

The dative in this construction is often called the Dative of Advantage or Disadvantage,1 as denoting the person or thing for whose benefit or to whose prejudice the action is performed.

  • tibi arās (Plaut. Merc. 71), you plough for yourself.
  • tuās rēs tibi habētō; (Plaut. Trin. 266), keep your goods to yourself (formula of divorce).
  • laudāvit mihi frātrem, he praised my brother (out of regard for me; laudāvit frātrem meum would imply no such motive).
  • meritōs mactāvit honōrēs, taurum Neptūnō, taurum tibi, pulcher Apollō; (Aen. 3.118), he offered the sacrifices due, a bull to Neptune, a bull to thee, beautiful Apollo.

J. H. Allen and J. B. Greenough, New Latin Grammar (Boston: Ginn, 1903). Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.