Dear Natalie_indeed,

in Pali, some case endings may be similar. In the event of
uncertainty, the immediate context of the word is used to determine
its case.

For stand-alone sentences, like the example you use, any of cases is
possible. But, as Nina and Ven. Kumara noted, the second translation
make little sense.

Please do not forget to make use of the Study Guide and resources on
tipitaka.net http://www.tipitaka.net/pali/palidd/#A

metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, natalie_indeed wrote:

I'm working on _A Pali Primer_ by Lily de Silva, and I'm having
trouble distinguishing between the dative (-aaya/ssa) and the genitive
(-ssa) cases in some situations. For example, I can see two possible
translations for this sentence:

Va.nijaana.m assaa kassakassa gaama.m dhaavanti.

The merchants' horses run to the farmer's village.
OR
The merchants' horses run to the village for the farmer.