The Flavors of Favor

How do you express favor in Latin—what verbs, cases and constructions are on your plate? There are a few basic flavors the favor construction.

The most obvious construction is faveō + a dative object. This verb only rarely appears absolutely (without an object).

• Do you favor my resources, or those of Caesar: meīs rēbus favētis, aut Caesāris?
• He prefers the stillness of the evening hours: silentiō noctis favet.

Annuō + dative of person + accusative object usually means ‘to grant + someone + something’ but may also appear as annuō + dative of person and merely mean ‘to favor someone.’

• She favored the better cause: ratiōnī maiōri annuit.

Adiuvō + accusative ordinarily means ‘aid’ but may in certain oblique cases approach ‘favor.’

• Favor us with your prayers: nōs precibus adiuvā!

The Essential AG: 367.

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(Some) Verbs Taking the Dative

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

dative_verbs_1b.pdf