Hi Ria,
I am still having difficulty with word order. How do you determine
which word comes directly before the verb? Here is an example from
lesson two which I missed.
12. The servants are giving food to the beggars.
Does beggars get placed before the verb because they are human
rather than the food getting placed before the verb? I have labeled
beggars dative plural and food accusative singular. I thought that
accusative always comes directly before the verb, but apparently that
isn't true. The food is undergoing the action of being given as I see
it. Why is beggars placed before the verb instead of food?

thanks,
Dipa
-- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "grasje" <grasje@...> wrote:

>
> Dear sister Dipa,
>
> You hit it right!
> The nominative is for the doer of the action (the actor, the subject),
> the accusative is for the thing or person undergoing the action (the
> passive object).
> The father is going, (with his chidren or with a wheelbarrow, that
> does not matter)the father is singular, so the verb is in singular.
>
> The village is not dative singular, becase there is nothing "given" to
> the village. (I once heard that the word dative comes from the old
> indian word "dana") The village has to endure the going of the father,
> and thus is accusative.
>
> In Narada's course, chapter 25 gives an overview of the use of the
> cases. And it is a matter of a whole lot of practise. In English there
> is only one case left: the possessive 's like in fathers's house. It
> takes time to get used to the fact that in a sentences like "this is
> the child" and "I see the child" the word for "child" has a different
> ending. In "The child's toys" we have no problem with that fact.
>
> As I am dutch, I know nothing about Englisch grammars. Maybe one of
> the other forum-members. (and I have the luck that I learned som
> German, some 30 years ago, with dative, accustive and genitive
> declensions)
>
> Kind regards
>
> Ria Glas
>
> --- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "dipaeightprecepter"
> <dipaeightprecepter@> wrote:
> >
> > I am on lesson two of Elementary Pali Course. Here is number 13 to
> > translate into Pali:
> > "The father is going with the children to the village."
> >
> > How do you determine whether the verb is singular or plural?
> > I need a rule or a pattern to follow to determine whether the verb is
> > singular or plural.
> >
> > Why isn't "village" dative singular?
> >
> > If there is a resource with simple Pali and English grammar facts that
> > you know of I would greatly appreciate it. My difficulties may be due
> > to not being well educated in English grammar. I am struggling with
> > determining what the object of a sentence is. I think I have hit on a
> > rule that works for me. It is "The object is what the verb touches".
> >
> > Dipa
> >
>