Dative of Purpose

A dative can be used with some form of sum, esse, fui, futurum as a replacement for a complement (as with linking skeletons) and as such are often called "predicative datives".

The dative is used when the complement needs a sense of purpose as well as equivalency with the subject. Here is a comparison of a linking construction and a "special" linking construction with the dative or purpose:

	The farm manager was helpful (linking)
	The farm manager was a help to Quintus ("a help" would be expressed with a dative of purpose; very literally, it could be translated as "the farm manager was for the purpose of a help to Quintus).

Here are some Latin examples of datives of purpose:

	vilicus Quinto magno auxilio erat, "the farm manager was (for the purpose of) a great help to Quintus. auxilio is the dative of purpose. magno simply an adjective that modifies auxilio.
	fumus strepitusque urbis Quinto odio erant, "the smoke and racket of the city were hateful (were for the purpose of hatred) to Quintus.

Latin will commonly add a Dative of Reference to the "special" linking clause using the dative of purpose to express to or for whom something is useful, hateful, etc. This combination of the dative of reference and dative of purpose is often called a "double dative" construction. In the first Latin example cited above, auxilio is the dative of purpose and Quinto is the dative of reference. In the second example, odio is dative of purpose and Quinto dative of reference.

The following are the most common phrases to utilize a dative of purpose:

	auxilio esse, "to be helpful to"
	cordi esse, "to be dear to"
	curae esse, "to be a care to, a cause of anxiety to"
	exemplo esse, "to be an example to"
	exitio esse, "to be the cause of destruction to"
	odio esse, "to be hateful to"
	saluti esse, "to be a cause of safety to"
	usui esse, "to be useful to"

Other Dative Uses

Indirect Object
Dative of Reference
Dative with a Compound
Dative of Purpose

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Related Topics

Lesson Chapter 53

Noun Morphology

Linking Skeletons

Last Updated March 18, 2003

Questions, comments and corrections should be sent to Brian K. Harvey, Kent State University