El Dativo | The Dative
Es la sede de la Real Academia Española, en Madrid. — This is the office of the Real Academia Española, Madrid. (Fuente/Source: Madripedia)
El dativo || The dative
The verb gustar and a number of other Spanish verbs expressing feeling or sensation use what is called a “dative construction.” In the dative construction, the grammatical subject and the indirect object of the sentence effectively reverse their roles. For example, with gustar:
- Me gusta el tango. (“I like the tango.” — Literally, “The tango is likeable to me.”)
One famous example of dative construction is “Me encanta,” the Spanish translation of the McDonalds slogan, I’m lovin’ it.”
Although we translate Me gusta el tango as “I like the tango”, the literal translation is “The tango pleases me.” Similarly, Me encanta McDonalds. is literally “McDonalds delights me.” In both cases, subject and object are reversed in English and Spanish.
The verb agrees in number with the grammatical subject, which is usually placed after the verb:
- A mí me gustan Burger King y McDonalds. “As for me, I like Burger King and McDonalds.” (gustar)
- A nosotros, nos gusta la playa. “As for us, we like the beach.” (gustar)
Familiarity with the dative construction gives us a host of ways to express our likes, preferences and a whole lot more. Click to see more verbs that use the dative construction.
