Lesson 22 · Review
Fourteen words. The heart of the lesson is the block of seven adjectives — idōneus, amīcus, inimīcus, grātus, molestus, fīnitimus, proximus — that reach out to a dative object; the rest fill out the Cornelia reading (two proper names, an abstract noun, a jewel) plus a new verb and a superlative adverb.
You already know the dative as the indirect object of a verb — the person you give, tell, or announce something to. This lesson stretches that same case onto adjectives: when a quality is aimed at someone or something, the target goes in the dative.
The dative is used with an adjective to name the object toward which the adjective's quality is directed. Wherever English says an adjective is friendly to, pleasing to, near to, or suitable for someone, Latin drops the little word and puts that someone in the dative.
Cibus armātīs virīs grātus erit — "The food will be pleasing to the armed men." (grātus points at the dative armātīs virīs.)
Especially those meaning near, fit, friendly, pleasing, like, and their opposites. From this lesson, memorize the seven that follow: idōneus (fit for), amīcus (friendly to), inimīcus (hostile to), grātus (pleasing to), molestus (annoying to), fīnitimus (neighboring to), proximus (nearest to).
Gallī cōpiīs Rōmānīs inimīcī erant — "The Gauls were hostile to the Roman troops." · Agrī fluviō Rhēnō fīnitimī erant — "The fields were near to the river Rhine."
Do not confuse this dative with the accusative of the place TO WHICH one moves. Motion toward a place uses ad + accusative; a quality directed at an object uses the bare dative. Both translate as English "to," but they answer different questions.
ad silvam castra movēbant — "they were moving the camp to the forest" (place to which, ad + acc.), vs. silvam oppidō proximam — "a forest nearest to the town" (directed quality, dative oppidō).
The lesson pauses to consolidate the indicative built on the present stem. One stem carries all three tenses; only the middle piece changes: nothing for the present, -bā- for the imperfect, -bi- for the future.
| Tense (3 sg.) | I. amō (love) | II. moneō (advise) |
|---|---|---|
| Present | amat — loves | monet — advises |
| Imperfect | amābāt — was loving | monēbāt — was advising |
| Future | amābit — will love | monēbit — will advise |
The imperfect describes continued or ongoing past action ("was loving"); the reading below is full of it — habitābant, cūrābat, docēbat, amābat.
Six out of six before you start the exercises.
Question 1
An adjective like amīcus ("friendly") names the person it is friendly to in which case?
Right. The dative names the object toward which an adjective's quality is directed (Rule 1). "Friendly to the Romans" → amīcus Rōmānīs, with Rōmānīs in the dative.
Not quite — think of the dative you met as the indirect object ("give to whom"). The same case marks whom an adjective is friendly, hostile, or pleasing to.
Question 2
In Gallī Rōmānīs inimīcī erant ("The Gauls were hostile to the Romans"), what does the dative Rōmānīs express?
Right. inimīcus is one of the dative-taking adjectives (Rule 2), and its dative names the target of the quality: hostile to the Romans. The subject is Gallī (nominative).
Not quite — the subject "the Gauls" is Gallī in the nominative. Ask instead: whom are they hostile toward? That target is the dative.
Question 3
Which of these adjectives does not normally take a dative for the thing it points to?
Right. The dative goes with adjectives meaning near, fit, friendly, pleasing, like, and their opposites (Rule 2). magnus ("large") describes a thing's own size — it is not "large to someone," so it takes no dative object. grātus and fīnitimus both belong to the dative group.
Not quite — one of these describes size, not a quality aimed at someone. Which one could never be followed by "to ___"?
Question 4
Which phrase correctly renders "pleasing to the armed men" (vir, virī; armātus, -a, -um)?
Right. grātus takes a dative object (Rule 1), and the dative plural of vir is virīs, with the modifying adjective agreeing: armātīs virīs. Option (a) is accusative plural, (c) is genitive plural.
Not quite — grātus wants the dative. Put both the noun vir and its adjective armātus into the dative plural (-īs).
Question 5
In Rōmānī ad silvam castra movēbant ("The Romans were moving the camp to the forest"), why is silvam accusative and not dative?
Right. This is the place-to-which construction, not the dative of a directed quality (N.B.): motion toward a place is ad + accusative, so ad silvam. The dative would appear only if an adjective like proximus were pointing at the wood.
Not quite — nothing here is "near to" or "friendly to" the forest. The Romans physically move toward it, which is ad + accusative.
Question 6
proximus means "nearest (to)." Which phrase means "nearest to the town" (oppidum, oppidī, n.)?
Right. proximus is a dative-taking adjective (Rule 2), and the dative singular of the neuter oppidum is oppidō. Compare the reading's silvam oppidō proximam. Option (a) is genitive, (c) accusative.
Not quite — "nearest to" calls for the dative. The dative singular of oppidum ends in -ō.
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