in Spanish. To show possession the preposition de is placed before the possessor: el libro de Juan,john's book; la profesora de las muchachas, the girls' teacher; la tienda de Wanamaker, Wanamaker's. See 269, 282. 94.

3. Dative (dativo, complemento u objeto indirecto). Nouns in the dative case are preceded by the preposition a: doy el dinero a los muchachos, I give the boys the money, or, I give the money to the boys. 95.

1. Verbs of deprivation or separation require the dative case. Such are robar, to steal, guitar, to take away, pedir, to ask for, tomar, to take, comprar, to buy, etc.: robaron el dinero al senor, they stole the money from the gentleman. See 267. 96.

2.  The dative case, called the " dative of interest," at times is used to indicate the person particularly concerned in the action of the verb: se le han caido al viejo los dientes, the old man's teeth have fallen out. See 268. 97.

For the dative with gustar, see 659.

4. Accusative (acusativo, complemento u objeto directo). The direct object of a verb is in the accusative case. If that object denotes a specific person, a proper noun, a personified thing, or a " higher animal," it is preceded by the preposition a, sometimes called the " personal a ": veo a mis amigos, I see my friends;

CASE OF NOUNS

conozco a Maria, I know Mary; visito a Madrid, I visit Madrid. 98.

1. This preposition is sometimes omitted when there is also an indirect noun object in the same sentence: recomiendo el caballero a mi amigo, I recommend the gentleman to my friend. 99.

2.  When both subject and object are things, this preposition must be placed before the object to make clear the meaning, since either or both nouns may follow the verb: el buen tiempo sigue a la tempestad, or, a la tempestad sigue el buen tiempo, or sigue el buen tiempo a la tempestad, good weather follows the storm. 100.

3. An exception occurs in the case of the object of tener, when a is not used: tengo dos hermanos, I have two brothers. But when the place in which the personal object is situated is indicated, a is customary: tengo a dos hermanos en Cuba, I have two brothers in Cuba. See 645. 101.

D. NOUNS OF DIMENSION (nombres de dimension).

I. If the dimension is expressed in the predicate, the verb used is tener; tener + numeral + unit of measure + de + noun (or adjective) of dimension — length, width, height, depth, or thickness: la caja tiene un metro de longitud o de largo, de anchura o de