dative absolute
The 'dative absolute' is a grammatical construction seen in some ancient and modern languages, providing additional context to the main action in a sentence.
🇺🇸 US Voice:
🇬🇧 UK Voice:
Definition
C2Linguistics
(technical, academic)An independent phrase in a sentence where a noun or pronoun and its modifier are in the dative case, providing extra information about the main action.
Example
- In Old English, the dative absolute construction was used to add circumstantial details.
- The phrase 'with the sun rising' in a dative absolute construction might appear in some ancient texts.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "dative absolute":
genitive absoluteaccusative absolutenominative absolutelocative absolutepartitive ablativedative of purposepartitive dative