peopledative

Peopledative refers to a grammatical construction where the noun "people" functions as the indirect object (dative case) in a sentence, receiving the benefit or target of an action. This usage is typically observed in English and related languages, where "people" can take the dative case to indicate the recipient of an action rather than a general group. For example, the sentence "She sent a letter to people" uses "people" as the indirect object, meaning the letter is intended for a group of individuals. Such constructions are common in informal or colloquial speech, though they may sometimes be considered nonstandard in formal contexts. The peopledative structure distinguishes between direct objects (which receive the action directly) and indirect objects (which benefit from the action), with "people" serving as a generic term for a collective recipient. This grammatical pattern reflects how language adapts to convey the direction of an action toward a group, emphasizing the dative case's role in indicating recipients.