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Cases

The document discusses the four main cases in English: vocative, genitive, subjective, and objective. It provides examples and explanations of each case. The vocative case is used for direct address. The genitive case indicates possession or is used after prepositions like "of". The subjective case is used for the subject of a verb. The objective case is used for the direct or indirect object of a verb or the object of a preposition.

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2K views4 pages

Cases

The document discusses the four main cases in English: vocative, genitive, subjective, and objective. It provides examples and explanations of each case. The vocative case is used for direct address. The genitive case indicates possession or is used after prepositions like "of". The subjective case is used for the subject of a verb. The objective case is used for the direct or indirect object of a verb or the object of a preposition.

Uploaded by

Isidora_94
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Vocative Case

The vocative case is one of the 4 main cases in modern English. The vocative case is used to
indicate direct address (i.e., talking to somebody directly). Names in the vocative case are offset
using commas.

Examples:

Where have you been, Charlie?


Jonathan, do not forget your shower gel.
And that, your Honour, concludes our case.

Interactive example:
Do me a favour, Kev, and ask Tim to stop bleating about the wind. [show me the vocative case]

Nouns and pronouns in the vocative case are identical to those in subjective case. However, they
should be offset using comma(s). This is why the vocative case is distinguished as a case.

Read more at http://www.grammar-


monster.com/glossary/vocative_case.htm#BTeUv85YFKe7AZgz.99

Genitive Case

The genitive case is one of the 4 main cases in modern English. Whilst it has other uses
(explained below), it is predominantly the form used to indicate possession. For nouns, it is
usually created by adding 's to the word or by preceding it with "of".

Examples:

Carl's haircut
the edge of the table

There are several other ways of forming the genitive case:

Type Example Genitive Case


singular noun dog dog's dinner
plural nouns dogs dogs' dinner
Chris' hat or Chris's
singular noun ending s Chris
hat
plural nouns not
Men Men's room
ending s
Take out the hamster's wheel and open the back of the cage. [show me the genitive case]

When the genitive case is used to show possession, it may also be classified as the "possessive
case".

Example:

Dan's bike (genitive case and possessive case)

However, the genitive case does not always indicate possession.

Examples:

children's songs (genitive case)


(In this example, the children do not own the songs. They are songs for children.)
Constable's paintings (genitive case)
(Constable may not own the paintings. This denotes only that they are paintings by Constable.)

Possessive adjectives and possessive personal pronouns are also considered as being genitive
forms.

Examples:

our carpet (our - a genitive form of us)


Can I use yours? (yours - a genitive form of you)

Read more at http://www.grammar-


monster.com/glossary/genitive_case.htm#8zyw6pp33hkzXkcc.99

Subjective Case

The subjective case, or nominative case, is one of the 4 main cases in modern English. It is used
for any noun or pronoun that is the subject of a verb.

Examples:

He sang his poem. ("He" - subject of the verb "sang")


Who rang the bell? ("Who" - subject of the verb "rang")
Maria will open the school. ("Maria" - subject of the verb phrase "will open")

Interactive example:
Further to your letter, we welcome the idea of staying here. [show me the subjective case]
Read more at http://www.grammar-
monster.com/glossary/subjective_case.htm#Ao641AUkT8LphU8s.99

Objective Case

The objective case is one of the 4 main cases in modern English. It is used for a noun or pronoun
that is the direct object of a verb, the indirect object of a verb or the object of a preposition.

Examples:

Direct Object (the noun which the verb acts on directly):

Please pass the butter.

verb direct object

Indirect Object (the noun to which the verb happens):

Please pass the butter to Simon. / Please pass Simon the butter.

verb indirect object verb indirect object

The Object of a Preposition (the noun which follows a preposition, e.g., in, on, at, near, by):

She lives near Brighton.

preposition object of the preposition

With the exception of "who" and "whom", the objective case causes few problems. This is
because nouns do not change, and English speakers can easily distinguish between pronouns in
the subjective case (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) and those in the objective case (me, you, him,
her, it, us, them). In other languages and old English, the direct object of a verb has its own case,
known as the accusative, and indirect objects are shown using the dative case. In modern
English, these have transformed into the objective case.

Interactive example:

It is a present for you from my wife and me.


Read more at http://www.grammar-
monster.com/glossary/objective_case.htm#5IFqHUUip88fuDt1.99

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