CHAPTER 35 "Dative With Special Verbs; Dative With Compounds" There is nothing conceptually challenging in this chapter, but that doesn't make it any easier. Chapter involves a lot of very precise memorization, and a little advice. There's not much help I can give you. DATIVE WITH SPECIAL VERBS You see before that Latin sometimes conceives actions differently from the way we with English as native language might expect. For example, remember the verb "careo, -ere, carui, cariturus"? For us it means "to lack", and when we use the verb "to lack" in English, it is followed by the direct object case. We might be tempted to assume, therefore, that the Latin verb "careo" will also take the accusative case. But it doesn't. "Careo" is construed with the ablative case in Latin. Similarly, our verb "to use" is followed by a direct object, but the Latin equivalent, "utor, uti, usus sum", takes the ablative case, obviously because Latin simply doesn't conceive of the action of using something in quite the same way we do in English. So the point of all this is that you got to be careful not to rely to heavily on your English instincts as you try to feel your way through Latin constructions. But you've known that for some time now. In this chapter, you're presented with several very common verbs which take the dative case instead of the accusative case, as we might expect simply by examining their English translations. There is no connection between the kinds of actions represented in these verbs and the fact that they take the dative case. There is no rule we can concoct in advance that will tip you off whether a certain verb in Latin will take the dative case. You simply must memorize, as you've been doing before, the case the verb takes when you learn the verb itself. The only helpful advice is that you memorize the verbs with a definition which will make the dative case object obvious. Here's the list: credo (3) credidi creditus "to believe in" (not "to trust) ignosco (3) ignovi ignotus "to grant pardon to" (not "to forgive") impero (1) -avi -atus "to give order to" (not "to order") noceo (2) nocui nocitus "to do harm to" (not "to harm" parco (3) peperci parsurus "to be lenient to (not "to spare") pareo (2) parui -------- "to be obedient to (not "to obey" persuadeo (2) -suasi -suasus "to be persuasive to (not "to persuade") placeo (2) placui placitus "to be pleasing to (not "to please") servio (4) -ivi -itus "to be a slave to (not "to serve") studeo (2) studui ------- "to be eager for" (not "to study") COMMENTS: (1) Now obviously, the translations Wheelock offers (e.g. "to be eager for) are only to aid memorization of the case structures these verbs take. They're only crutches, which should be discarded when you're actually finishing off a translation. You wouldn't translate "Adulescentes litteris Graecis studebant" as "The youths were eager for Greek literature." But if in your mind you think "studebant -- they were eager for" as you're reading the sentence, you'll know immediately what case "litteris Graecis is in and why. Then you can smooth out the English: "The youths used to study Greek literature." (2) This is quite a list of verbs, but as you can see, almost all have clear English derivatives, which gives you some insight into their meanings. "Pareo" and "ignosco are going to be a little tricky, especially "ignosco", since it looks like it ought to be "not to recognize" (from a negative prefix + "nosco"). Actually, this can be used to your advantage, if you think of it this way: "forgive and forget (i.e. "to put out of mind"). (3) Another aid to memorizing these verbs might be to cluster them together into groups of actions and their opposites, or into groups of related ideas. Something like this: I. command, obey, serve II. harm, forgive, spare III. persuade, trust, please (because you trust in and are persuaded by what you find pleasing) (4) Wheelock omits an important detail about these verbs: none of these verbs can be used in the passive voice. Only verbs which are truly transitive (i.e. take an accusative object) can be used both in the active and in the passive voices. To say "he is trusted" in Latin, consquently, it would be wrong to say "Creditur." Instead, Latin uses the verb impersonally: "Trust is shown to him," which would be "Ei creditur." Similarly for all these verbs. Here are some examples: Nobis non parebitur. We will not be obeyed (lit. Obedience will not given to us). Eis ignotum est. They were forgiven. Militibus imperatum est... The soldiers were ordered... DATIVE WITH COMPOUND VERBS The point of this section is simple: sometimes root verbs alter their configuration of objects when prefixes are added. And that's all really that can be said. You've seen already that root verbs can pick up prefixes which slightly change the meaning of the verb. Most of these changes have been trivial: capio: recipio (take back); accipio (accept) Sometimes, however, the addition of a prefix will substantially change the way a verbal root has to be understood. Look at some English examples of this phenomenon: refer, defer, prefer, differ, infer revoke, invoke, prevoke And we could go on like this for days. Latin is similiarly able to change the meaning of a root verb with its differing prefixes; furthermore, sometimes the change of meaning also involves a change in contruction. The verb "sum", as you know, means "to be", and is instranstive. But add the preposition "prae" to it, and it means "to be in command of" and it takes the dative case. For example, "Dumnorix equitatui praeerat" means "Dumnorix was in charge of the cavalry." Further, add the preposition "ad", and "sum" means "to support" and takes the dative case (not, as we might expect from the English equivalent, the accusative case): "Caesar amicis aderat" means "Caesar supported his freinds. Wheelock gives you a list of examples on page 170 where you can see the change of meaning and change of object prefixes often create in verbs. You should look them over, but it will not be necessary for you to memorize them. As you gather more experience reading Latin, you'll begin to recognize compound verbs like this which take the dative case. For your purposes now, you should simply think about this. If you're reading a sentence which seems to lack a needed direct object for a verb, check to see whether the verb you're considering is compound (made up of a root and a prefix). If it is, then look for a dative case, since this may be one of those occasions where the meaning of the verb has been altered by the prefix and now calls for a dative case. VOCABULARY PUZZLES antepono (3), -posui, -positus Obviously this is a compound of the verb you already know "pono" and the preposition "ante": "to place before", hence to prefer. The meaning is completed with an accusative direct object and the dative: "Antepono veritatem pecuniae" (I place truth before money = I prefer truth to money). -END- .