Word.ws English Dictionary

dative shift

/ˈdeɪtɪv ʃɪft/

dative shift noun: relocation of the indirect object of a ditransitive verb from a prepositional phrase to a core argument or vice versa.

Noun

dative shift (plural dative shifts)

  1. Relocation of the indirect object of a ditransitive verb from a prepositional phrase to a core argument or vice versa.
    • The clauses "I'll throw you the ball" and "I'll throw the ball to you" are related by dative shift.
  2. Of a language, dialect, or specific verb, a feature where indirect objects can be given not only in prepositional phrases, but alternatively as core arguments.
    • English "to donate" exhibits dative shift only in some dialects; while "I donate clothes to them" is universally accepted, some dialects reject "I donate them clothes" as ungrammatical, or at least unnatural-sounding.

Forms of dative shift

pluraldative shifts

Questions about dative shift

What does dative shift mean?
Dative shift means relocation of the indirect object of a ditransitive verb from a prepositional phrase to a core argument or vice versa.
What part of speech is dative shift?
Dative shift is a noun.
How do you pronounce dative shift?
Dative shift is pronounced /ˈdeɪtɪv ʃɪft/.
What is the plural of dative shift?
The plural of dative shift is dative shifts.

Words near dative shift in the dictionary

  1. dative case
  2. dative cases
  3. dative executor
  4. dative executors
  5. dative of purpose
  6. dative shift
  7. dative shifts
  8. dative sickness
  9. datively
  10. datives
  11. datives of purpose

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dative shift (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “dative shift.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dative_shift. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.