Allen and Greenough aren’t great here. They have four whole pages on the dative with certain verbs, all of which are poorly structured and organized. I’ve done my best to tie everything together. Some of the verbs are secretly more complex than AG suggests. I’ve tried to note everywhere this is the case.
Here’s one of several forthcoming summaries–
Verbs Taking the Dative (p1/many)
Verbs that Please, Service and Favor
- It does not displease me: mihi nōn displicet.
- The poem pleases me: carmen mihi placet.
- He rescued his fatherland and aided his friend: subvēnit patriae atque amīcō opitulāvit.
- I do not serve all men: nōn omnibus serviō.
- The people favor Septimus: populus Romanus Septimō favet.
- Do you favor me or him: mihi aut eō studēs?
- Some exceptions–iuvō and adiuvō, help, dēficiō, fail, and dēlectō, please, take an accusative
- N.B. : placet (please) and plācet (placate, sbj.) look incredibly similar, and both take the dative, but are two distinct verbs
Verbs that Persuade, Trust and Believe
- In this way, I have persuaded myself: sīc mihi persuāsī.
- She trusts you with her life: ad vītam tibi fīdit.
- We trust in the household gods: Penatibus credimus.
- Some exceptions–fīdo and cōnfīdo may take an ablative or a dative
- Credō is also complicated: taking a dative and accusative where meaning “to entrust or credit x with y,” and frequently taking the preposition “in + acc.” instead of a direct dative
Verb Summary
- displiceō, displicēre, displicuī, displicitum: to displease
- placeō, placēre, placuī, placitum: to please
- opitulor, opitulārī, opitulātus sum: to assist, relieve
- serviō, servīre, servīvī, (no passive): to serve
- subveniō, subvenīre, subvēnī, subventum: to assist
- faveō, favēre, favī, fautum: to favor
- studeō, studēre, studuī (no passive): to favor, study
- persuādeō, persuādēre, persuāsī, persuāsum: to persuade, convince
- fīdo, fīdere, fīsus sum (semi-deponent): to trust
- cōnfīdo, cōnfidere, cōnfisus sum (semi-deponent): to trust, believe
- crēdō, crēdere, crēdidī, crēditum: to credit, entrust, believe
The Essential AG: 367
Famous Phrase: equō nē crēdite, Teucrī (don’t trust the horse, Trojans)
Virgil, Aeneid, 2.48-9
Latin for Addicts 
Er, that should be “carmen”. And “populus Romanus”. And “or” isn’t Latin for “or”. And I’m not sure what “ad vitam tibi fidis” means but it’s definitely not “she trusts you with her life”. And “penantibus credamus” should probably be “penatibus credimus”. And, finally, the word “opitulor” is so rare it’s hardly worth learning. A modern grammar like the OLG by James Morwood would serve you better here. Gildersleeve & Lodge is very comprehensive, too.
Thanks! It’s great to have someone reading these carefully. I’ve incorporated your suggestions.
Hey there would you mind stating which blog platform you’re
working with? I’m going to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a difficult
time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your layout seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique.
P.S Apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!
Hi. This is a WordPress Platform.